The 2025 labor market has seen a series of slowdowns, with significant drops in both hiring and turnover. Those hoping the year will end in a last-minute infusion of activity will have to keep those fingers crossed: November data presented by BambooHR indicates that the market is continuing to stall.
In fact, global hiring, turnover, and job openings all dropped from October to November, and the proportion of turnover to total employees reached its lowest level since November 2020, at just 1.6%.
Key takeaways:
· The decline in global hiring and turnover has become a steady trend for 2025, with hiring down 14% and turnover down 21% since this time last year. Job openings, on the other hand, are on the upswing, with a 15% year-over-year increase. The disparity between hiring and job openings points to a mixed international outlook. While global business leaders remain optimistic about growth, they have less confidence in their own ability to execute plans.
· The United States is performing similarly to the global market, with turnover declining 23% year-over-year and hiring down by 15%. U.S. job openings are following the same trend line as global jobs, with a 15% year-over-year increase.
- Hiring, job openings, and turnover decreased across all sectors with the exception of finance, which saw no change in turnover.
- All regions saw a decrease in turnover, with Latin America leading the way with a 30% decrease.
- Hiring, turnover, and job openings decreased for all company sizes. Larger companies (151-plus employees) had the highest proportion of new hires to total employees and the lowest proportion of job openings.
- Globally, in November 2025, hiring was down 18%, turnover was down 24%, and job openings fell 15% compared to October.
- In the United States, 21% decrease in hiring from October 2025 to November 2025, and 15% decrease in hiring year-over-year from November 2024.
- In the United States, 17% decrease in job openings from October 2025 to November 2025, and 15% increase in job openings year-over-year from November 2024.
- In the United States, 26% decrease in turnover from October 2025 to November 2025, and 23% decrease in turnover year-over-year from November 2024.
