Indeed Chief Economist Explains Why Labor Market Feels ‘Frozen’ and How Employers Adapt

The Labor Market May Feel Uncertain, but the data tells a clen Story: Hiring is sluggish, labor lottages are looming, and employers that real-time insights can adapt faste and Stay Competitive.

Employers and Job Seekers have endless Questions About Today’s Labor Market: Are We in A Recession? Is a laborary lapping? What About the impact of he on Jobs?

Few People Are Better Equipped to Answer Those Questions than Svenja Gedell, Indeed’s Chief Economist.

By analyzing Indeed’s trove of millions of Job Postings and Billions of Annual Job Searches, Gudell Can See Past Today’s Chaotic Headlines – Not JUST INTO WHERE THE HARING MARKET STANDS, but Where’s going.

The good news? “We’re not un yet in a recession,” Gudell Said During Her Remarks at the Indeed Futureworks 2025 Conference. The Bad: Warning Signs Are All Around US. Gudell Leaned on Indeed Data to Answer Some of the Most Pressing Questions About Today’s Labor Markets and Offer Tips for CAN Respond.

Are we in a recession?

Not quite. The Labor Market has cooled consider, but unmployment Currently stands at 4.3% and Layoffs are Low. “That’s the goody some good news,” Gudell Said.

But there are areas of Trouble: Inflation is Beginning to Outpace Wage Growth, Hiring Rates Are Stack at Roughly 2013 Levels, and the Ratio of Job openings to UNEMPLOYED WORKERS HAS STEADILY DECREASHED FROM 2: 1 TO 1: 1, DRASTICALY LIMIMITINGS ‘OPTIONS.

That means it taks jab seekers four Weeks Longer, on average, to find a new than it did two years ago, Gudell Said.

This is partially Becausee quit Rates are down, Meaning People are Holding on to their Jobs Longer, Reducing the Churnhs Happens in Healthy Markets.

While it mIight not be a recession, Gudell Said, “We like to call this a frozen labor market.”

Are Labor Shortages on the Horizon?

In Short, Yes. “Talent Shortages Are Coming, and They’re Coming Soon,” Gudell Said.

Baby Boomers Are Auging Into Retirement, She Noted, and Younger Generations are Smaller, Meaning they won’t be able to match the force participation of Older Generations. GUDELL PREDICTS TANGIBLE IMPACTS ON THE LABOR MARKET AS SOON AS 2027.

“This is a Very Huge problem that we’re going to see,” Gudell Said.

Can he starts the gap?

Its Complicated. He Job Postings Still Represent Less than 3% of All Jobs on Indeed. That’s more than Last Yearbut widespread adoption of he in nonb roles is still in its early days.

Indeed Data Shows that 95% of Employers have no he no postings at all. In fact, just 1% of Companies Account for 90% of AI-Relay Postings.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t hating any impact on grain. Indeed Hiring Lab Recently Analyzed Nearly 3,000 Skills to Assess Their Expander to AI. The Result? While there are weren’t any jobs that are fully replaceable by he just yeet, guedll said, “there’s not a single jab that doesn’t have some sort of impact from he.”

In the tech industry in participle, guedel noted, indeed is beginning to see more postings for senior roles than junior roles. “Neither is he able to take over some routine task, like basic coding, hiring a more junior person is not even top of mind asses to be,” Gudell Said.

What Now?

GUDELL OFFERED SOME POINTERS To Help Employers Adapt to this Uncertain and Tumultuous Market:

DATA IS YOUR COMPASS. Indeed’s Hiring Lab Data Can Help Talent Acquisition Leaders Benchmark, Forecast and Optimize Hiring Based on Real-Time Labor Market Trends.

Flexibility Wins: Be Prepared to Challenge Your “Hiring Playbook” and Evolve with the Market.

Use he as an opportunity multiplier: Focus on building teams that can use and supervisor he essenti – not to replace employs, but to augment.

Indedeed provides this information as a coursesy to users of this site. Please not that we are swimming your recruiting or legal Advisor, we are not respectible for the content of your nonb descriptions, and none of the information provided here Guarantees performance.

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This post was created by indeed with Insider studios.