The ZipRecruiter Job Seeker
Confidence Survey
The ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Survey is a nationally
representative quarterly survey of U.S. job seekers that measures
how optimistic or pessimistic they are about their ability to land
their preferred jobs. Increased confidence is typically an indicator offuture increases in employee turnover, wage growth, and labor force
participation.

Data Spotlight
Latest Release2023 Q1

0.3%

Expectations
Index

4.0%

Financial
Wellbeing
Index

Job seeker optimism about themedium-term labor market outlook
was largely unchanged in the firstquarter of 2023.

Job seekers reported experiencing
less financial pressure and greater
confidence that they would be able
to find better-paying jobs.

4.0%

Job seekers’ self-confidence in theirreadiness for the job search process
improved in the first quarter of 2023.

4.4%

Job seekers’ perceptions of current
job market conditions improved
significantly in the first quarter of2023.

Preparedness
Index

Present
Situation Index

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1U.S. Job Seeker Confidence
The ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Index increased 4.0% in 2023 Q1 from theprior quarter. With inflation easing somewhat in recent months and job openings
remaining elevated, job seeker confidence has partially rebounded, but it remains 2.1%
lower than a year ago.

3 Trends Reshaping the Labor Market
1. ChatGPT and artificial intelligence: 62% of job seekers say they areconcerned that ChatGPT and artificial intelligence could replace theirjobs. Concern is highest among the youngest job seekers and thosewith the least education, but falls steadily with age and education.
The share of job seekers worried about losing their jobs to ChatGPT
rises from 41% among boomers to 76% among Gen Z, and from 52%
among those with graduate or professional degrees to 72% of those
without high school diplomas.
2. Pay transparency: 41% of job seekers report that they are lessinclined to apply for jobs when postings exclude pay information.
When pay is listed, the width of the pay range specified can havemixed effects. 19% of job seekers say they are less likely to apply fora job when the posted pay range is wide (presumably because theyfind wide ranges less informative), whereas 21% say they are more
likely to apply (presumably because they interpret wide ranges as
signaling greater wage growth potential).
3. Pay equity: 78% of men say they believe that men and women
receive about the same pay at the organization where they currently
work or most recently worked, but only 61% of women share thatview. Similar shares of men and women (66% and 64%, respectively)
believe that new pay transparency laws requiring employers to postsalary information will help close remaining gender pay gaps.

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Key Job Seeker Statistics for 2023 Q1
Layoff announcements may be dominating news headlines, but the labor market has
not been flooded with laid-off job seekers, according to ZipRecruiter’s quarterly JobSeeker Confidence survey. The share of job seekers who report being unemployedbecause they were laid off or fired has decreased to 16% in 2023 Q1 from 19% a year
earlier, while the share who are searching while employed has increased to 52% from
45% over the year. This is significant because employed job seekers tend to face lessfinancial pressure and have more bargaining power.
Nonetheless, job seekers express heightened concern about the risk of layoffs andhiring freezes, and that concern is affecting their labor market decisions in thefollowing ways:
1. Job seekers are prioritizing job security over schedule flexibility and careeradvancement. The share of job seekers who rank job security among the top
three characteristics they are looking for in their next job increased to 36% in
2023 Q1, from 32% a year ago.
2. Job seekers increasingly want permanent, full-time opportunities. The shareof job seekers who report that they would prefer a full-time job increased to66% in 2023 Q1 from 61% the same time last year.
3. Job search has become a permanent state of being. Given uncertainty about
the macroeconomic outlook, employed job seekers estimate that there is a 22%
chance that they could be laid off in the next 6 months. Against that backdrop,
7 in 10 job seekers say they will continue to look for jobs even after they accept
a new role, to keep their options open.

“Amid economic uncertainty, job seekers are playing it safe, increasingly prioritizing job
security over career growth and cultivating fallback options, according to @ZipRecruiter’slatest Job Seeker Confidence Survey.”— Julia Pollak, ZipRecruiter Chief Economist

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What Job Seekers Want
Top 5 Things Job Seekers Want in Their Next Job• Better pay (52%)• Job security (36%)• Less stress (35%)• Opportunities to learn new things (24%)• Control over their schedules/flexibility (23%)
Top 5 Reasons Job Seekers Provide for Quitting Their Last Job• Too much stress (41%)• Not enough pay (34%)• Wanting time for other things than work (18%)• Inconvenient location (18%)• Not getting along with colleagues (17%)
Top 5 Job Search Challenges• Not finding relevant opportunities (41%)• Never hearing back from employers (30%)• Not getting interviews (29%)• Being discouraged by time-consuming application processes (20%)• Not knowing what I want (19%)
Top 5 Employment Barriers• Being perceived as too old (26%)• Lacking the right work experience (20%)• Lacking the right education (19%)• Being perceived as overqualified (18%)• Lacking transportation (17%)

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“While job seeker confidence remains elevated, the ground may be shifting beneath workers’
feet. After two years of record-setting hiring fueled by the post-Covid economic reopening,the demand for new hires shows signs of slowing. Job seekers in search of more job security
and higher pay may find they need to broaden their job search and spend more timelooking than was required a few months ago.”— Ian Siegel, ZipRecruiter CEO

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The Survey
The quarterly ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Survey is basedon an online sample and conducted for ZipRecruiter by Qualtrics. It isadministered to 2,000+ job seekers between the 10th and 16th of thesecond month of each quarter and weighted to the U.S. Census Bureau’s
American Community Survey. Respondents may be employed, unemployed,or not currently in the labor force, but they must reside in the United Statesand plan to find a new job “in the next six months” in order to be includedin the sample.

The ZipRecruiter Index
The overall ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Index comprises four
subindices:• The Preparedness Index measures how confident job seekers feel
about their job skills, education, and training, as well as about theirjob search skills—that is, their ability to find relevant positions,develop application materials, and interview effectively.
• The Financial Wellbeing Index measures job seekers’ financial
security—that is, whether they have peace of mind about their ability
to meet their financial needs, or whether they are searching for workand negotiating job offers under financial pressure.
• The Expectations Index captures job seekers’ short-term outlook forlabor market conditions. It is based on questions about whether jobseekers expect the number of available jobs to increase or decrease.
• The Present Situation Index is based on job seekers’ assessmentof current labor market conditions. It is based on questions about
whether they expect to get interviews, find a job easily, and get thejob they want, and how satisfied they are with their job search.

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Related Publications
Survey Methodology
This is What Job Seeker Bargaining Power Looks Like
Candidate Ghosting and Job Seeker Confidence
Release Calendar

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