Job seekers are most concerned with the economy and age discrimination in 2023, according to an iHire survey. Of 4,430 U.S. workers from 57 industries surveyed,
41.1% expect economic downturn or a recession to impact their career or job search in the new year, followed closely by age discrimination (40%).
Responses to the question, “Which of the following are you concerned will impact your career or job search in 2023?” ranked as follows (respondents could select all applicable answers):
- Economic downturn/recession (41.1%)
- Age discrimination (40.0%)
- Stress/burnout (24.1%)
- Employer ghosting (16.3%)
- Layoffs (15.6%)
- Pay cuts (11.2%)
- COVID-19 (7.4%)
“With five generations in the workforce and more Americans delaying retirement, it’s not surprising that ageism is on job seekers’ minds nearly as much as the economy,” said Steve Flook, iHire’s President and CEO. “In 2023, employers should embrace hiring workers of all ages as part of their DEI strategies. That can involve anonymizing and removing dates from applicant resumes, crafting job ads with more inclusive language, and training hiring managers and recruiters to recognize and combat bias.”
Although two out of five respondents worried about a recession, just 15.6% and 11.2% were anxious about layoffs and pay cuts, respectively. Stress/burnout ranked third (24.1%), followed by employer ghosting (16.3%) – an ongoing candidate frustration with unresponsive employers during the recruiting process. A mere 7.4% said they were concerned with COVID-19.
iHire will release more results from this survey – including insights into employers’ hiring plans for 2023 – in its inaugural Hiring & Job Search Outlook Report, due to publish in mid-January.
Survey Methodology
4,430 U.S. workers from 57 industries responded to iHire’s survey in December 2022. Respondents came from iHire’s job seeker database. All decimal points are rounded to the nearest tenth.
