For many workers, 2025 was a year defined by strict RTO mandates, massive layoffs, and exhausting job hunts. It’s little wonder, then, that according to Glassdoor, one word summarized the mood of the workforce this year: fatigue.
“This year, workers spent a lot of time on edge — worried about the next headline, technology shift, or economic surprise coming around the corner,” Glassdoor said in a Dec. 10 blog post. “Politics dominated, layoff fears lingered, economic concerns mounted, and AI disruption accelerated. The result? A workforce running on empty.”
The job site compared mentions of ‘fatigue’ across Glassdoor Community from Jan.1 to Nov. 18, 2025 to mentions from all of 2024 and saw a 41% spike.
“Workers don’t feel like this job market is working for them. We are in an environment of sluggish hiring, limited career growth, limited pay growth, and all of these things are leaving workers feeling sour about where things are,” Daniel Zhao, chief economist at Glassdoor, tells CNBC Make It.
Glassdoor pointed to a few factors behind worker fatigue this year. One was politics, with mentions of “inauguration” jumping by 875% year-over-year.
