Job seekers are officially hitting a breaking point.
After a year of lackluster hiring and an increasingly demoralizing job-search process, many are sitting out the slog of finding new work altogether.
Just 43% of people say they plan to job search in 2026, down from 93% last year, according to a December survey of 1,504 U.S. workers from Monster, the jobs platform.
The outlook for 2025 job-switching “signaled significant optimism” and was on par with levels seen during the Great Resignation, says Monster careers expert Vicki Salemi. Many workers said the rising cost of living was driving them to look for a new job with a higher salary, she adds.
This year, though, workers are still feeling the financial squeeze but aren’t optimistic that they can land a new role, let alone a better-paying one.
