Job openings in the US just climbed to their highest level in nearly two years, according to the latest JOLTS data. On paper, that sounds simple: more openings, more opportunity. But if you’ve been hiring or job searching lately, you already know it’s not that straightforward. This jump in openings is a signal. It tells us something about where the labor market is heading, and it has real consequences for how quickly roles get filled, how competitive compensation needs to be,

The headlines say the U.S. economy just logged its third straight month of strong job growth, adding around 172,000 jobs in May. Sounds great. But if you’re a job seeker who’s been sending out resumes with little response, or an employer struggling to fill the same role for months, it might not feel great. That gap between the numbers and the lived reality is exactly where job seekers and hiring managers get tripped up. The labor market looks strong on paper Let’s start with

The May 2026 jobs report looks strong on the surface. Payrolls are up again, headlines are positive, and on paper it feels like the labor market is still humming along. But if you work in hiring or you’re out there job searching, it probably doesn’t feel nearly as simple as that. Indeed Hiring Lab’s breakdown of the May report points to something most recruiters and candidates are already sensing: we’re living through two different labor markets at the same time. One headline

Everyone’s blaming AI for the collapse in early-career hiring. But if you look a little closer, there’s another quiet culprit: the way we’re doing remote and hybrid work. Entry-level pipelines haven’t dried up because we suddenly don’t need junior talent. They’re shrinking because we’ve made it incredibly hard to grow junior talent in the environments we’ve created. AI Is the Distraction. The Real Issue Is Proximity. There’s a lot of noise right now about how automation and A

Every May and June, my inbox fills up with some version of the same sentence: “I’m targeting roles in the $80,000 range.” This year, that number is everywhere. As USA Today reports, many new college graduates are walking into the job market expecting around an $80K starting salary. The reality? Entry-level compensation is all over the map, and in a lot of cases, it’s lower than that — sometimes significantly, depending on the role, industry, and region. When expectations and

On paper, the U.S. job market looks solid. Unemployment is low, headlines say the labor market is “resilient,” and big-picture data still points to growth. But if you’re actually job hunting right now, it might feel like a completely different reality: longer searches, fewer callbacks, more hoops to jump through, and companies that seem wildly picky about experience and skills. Both of these things can be true at the same time. The weird gap between data and reality Most labo

If you work with early-career talent, you’ve probably felt it: something has shifted for international students trying to build careers in the U.S. For years, the story was straightforward. Smart students came to the U.S., worked hard, did internships, landed jobs, got sponsored, and settled into long-term careers. Today, that path is cracked at almost every step — and both candidates and employers are feeling it. What’s Changed for International Students Seeking U.S. Jobs On

If you’re job hunting and thinking, “Why is this so hard right now?” — you’re not imagining it. Recent data shows the labor market has cooled from the white‑hot peak of the last few years. Openings are down from their highs, wage growth has eased, and there are more applicants competing for each role. But the story isn’t simply “bad job market” — it’s “different job market,” and that distinction really matters for both job seekers and employers. What the data actually says ab

Every few weeks, another headline pops up: "Company X cuts jobs due to AI." It’s unsettling if you’re a job seeker, and frankly, it’s not fun for those of us in recruiting either. It can feel like the robots are coming for everyone. But if you look past the headlines and into what employers are actually doing, a different story shows up. Yes, some layoffs are being directly tied to artificial intelligence and automation. But behind the scenes, most organizations aren’t simply

If you’re a recent or soon-to-be college grad staring at job boards and wondering, “Is it just me, or is this way harder than it should be?” — it’s not just you. The Washington Post recently dug into why the job market feels so tough right now, especially for the class of 2026. On paper, the U.S. job market is still strong. Unemployment is low. Many sectors are hiring. But entry-level roles — especially in popular fields and big coastal cities — aren’t keeping up with the num

The headlines say “steady” — but it doesn’t feel steady, does it? Every time a new labor market snapshot drops, like the April 2026 report from Indeed Hiring Lab, the headlines sound almost soothing: job postings, wage growth, labor supply, sector trends. It’s all very neat on paper. But if you’re a hiring manager struggling to fill a role, or a job seeker sending out applications into the void, it probably doesn’t feel neat at all. It feels contradictory: some teams are free

If you’re job searching right now and thinking, “Why does this feel so much harder than it should?” — you’re not imagining it. Data from a recent Washington Post piece, laid out in seven charts, backs up what a lot of candidates and hiring managers have been feeling for months: the job market is still strong on paper, but it’s getting tougher and more uneven underneath the surface. What’s really going on in today’s job market? From an employer’s point of view, the headline nu

If you’re job hunting right now and thinking, “Why does everything feel...stalled?” — you’re not imagining it. Unemployment is low, companies are still hiring, job postings are out there — and yet moves feel slower, offers take longer, and people are hanging onto their current roles like their lives depend on it. Reuters recently called it an “unusual and uncomfortable” stasis in the U.S. labor market, and that phrase nails what a lot of candidates and hiring managers are fee

If you only look at the headlines, the job market sounds like it’s getting back on track. Layoffs are slowing, certain industries are hiring again, and overall labor conditions look a lot healthier than they did a year or two ago. But if you’re in a white-collar, office-based role, it may not feel that way at all. That disconnect is exactly what’s playing out right now: the job market is healing, just not evenly. In-person and skilled roles are seeing more stable demand, whil

The job market isn’t “bad” — it’s uneven If you’re confused by today’s job market, you’re not alone. Headlines say companies are cutting back, but you still see tech roles popping up. Some teams are in a freeze, while others are quietly hiring as fast as they can. It’s not a simple boom or bust cycle right now — it’s uneven. According to the latest outlook, hiring is expected to remain patchy across sectors. Technology and experienced professionals are the clear bright spots,

The whiplash of being "in demand" one year and invisible the next A few years ago, certain talent profiles could write their own ticket. Tech specialists, growth marketers, data folks, product leaders – many were fielding multiple offers, juggling counteroffers, and picking employers the way employers once picked them. Now, a surprising number of those same people are sitting in job-search purgatory. Interviews dry up. Recruiters stop calling. Roles they’re perfect for go to

Every spring, we all ask the same question: "How tough is the market for new grads this year?" According to a new report, there’s a surprising twist in 2026: recent graduates are actually finding jobs faster, even though the job market is still very competitive. That combination — faster hiring and high competition — says a lot about what’s happening in early-career hiring right now. What’s really going on with new grad hiring? On the surface, it sounds contradictory. Competi

If it feels like every other job you see lately is for a nurse, an electrician, or a mechanic, you’re not imagining it. The U.S. labor market is quietly being rewritten by demographics, and two sectors are at the center of it: healthcare and the skilled trades. As the population ages, demand for care and for hands-on, essential services is exploding. At the same time, a big chunk of the workforce with those skills is retiring or getting close. That combination is creating the

If it feels like every other job you see lately is for a nurse, an electrician, or a mechanic, you’re not imagining it. The U.S. labor market is quietly being rewritten by demographics, and two sectors are at the center of it: healthcare and the skilled trades. As the population ages, demand for care and for hands-on, essential services is exploding. At the same time, a big chunk of the workforce with those skills is retiring or getting close. That combination is creating the

Scroll any job board right now and you’ll see a weird split: a lot of industries are clearly cooling off… but healthcare? Still packed with openings. While many employers are tapping the brakes on hiring, health systems, clinics, and care providers keep posting roles and struggling to fill them. The Scripps News piece on the current health care hiring boom puts numbers and stories to what recruiters and candidates have been feeling for a while: healthcare is playing by a diff