Hiring Confidence Wavers as US Employers Reassess Growth Plans for 2025 (July 25, 2025)
albanyceo.com
... As summer unfolds, many U.S. employers are taking a hard look at their hiring plans, and what they see is prompting a more cautious approach.
A new survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals reveals that while most hiring managers (78%) still feel positive about their company's hiring outlook for the remainder of 2025, that optimism has dimmed since last fall, when 84% felt confident. At the same time, concern is growing: 37% now express a negative outlook, up from 30% just months ago.
Behind these shifting sentiments lies a more restrained hiring strategy.
Only 58% of companies plan to increase their workforce in the second half of the year, a noticeable drop from 63% in the fall of 2024. One-third of employers expect to hold steady, while 7% anticipate cutting back.
For those still planning to hire, the reasons are clear: they need to manage growing workloads (52%), fill newly created roles (49%) and replace employees lost to turnover (42%).
But for others, the focus has shifted to tightening budgets.
Among companies planning to reduce staff, more than half (54%) cite cost-cutting as the primary driver, followed by adapting to government policy changes (26%) and responding to declining demand (25%). ...
