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State of Workers 2025 Report
Report summary
In just five years, we’ve cycled through many eras of work, including “The Great Resignation,” “The Great Reshuffle,” and “The Great Stay.”
Now, in 2025, enter: “The Great Freeze.” Workers may be ready to move on from their current jobs, but they’ll face a job market actively in slowdown mode. That means they’ll either take no action and continue to feel burnt out and disengaged, or struggle to find new jobs.
To get a deeper sense of how Americans feel about work — including their outlook of the job market — we surveyed 6,554 U.S. adults, including 3,378 employed adults, on layoff expectations, their level of engagement and satisfaction with their jobs, as well as concerns about politics and AI use in the workplace.
Key Takeaways
- Active job seekers feel bad about the job market. Nearly half of active job seekers think the job market is bad for workers, with many finding it difficult to secure callbacks or offers.
- Workers are tired and don’t want to rock the boat. Employees are increasingly less likely to want more work for more pay and are making fewer demands of their employers.
- Politics is top of mind for workers. Those who worry about their own job safety cite new political changes, and more than half of all workers say mass deportations would have an impact on their industries.
- AI in the workplace is on the rise. The share of workers who report using AI at work has grown 9 points year over year, with the biggest uptick among salaried employees.
Data Downloads
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Highlights from this report
AI use in the workplace has grown substantially year over year
Between 2024 and 2025, growth in the use of artificial intelligence at work has been notable, with increases happening across all major cohorts, which is usually not the case for new trends or behaviors, and highly reflective of the aggressive push that companies have put behind investing in AI in the workplace.
Methodology
Data featured throughout is from a survey conducted between Feb. 18-23, 2025, among 6,554 U.S. adults, including 3,378 employed adults, with weighted margins of error of +/-1 and +/-2 percentage points, respectively. The survey interviews were conducted online, and the data was weighted to approximate populations of adults based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age and race by educational attainment.
About the author
Amy He leads Industry Analysis at Morning Consult. Prior to joining Morning Consult, Amy served as the executive editor at eMarketer, and was a China reporter for many years. She graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and East Asian studies. For speaking opportunities and booking requests, please email [email protected].
