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With flip-flopping trade policies dominating the news cycle, job seekers are stressed about how they could impact their ability to get a job.
More than a third of people looking for work (35%) say they expect tariffs to make it more challenging for them to land a job, according to ZipRecruiter’s latest Job Seeker Confidence Index. Additionally, about a third (32%) say this is because they’ve observed fewer job postings and a slow down in companies hiring. And the number who say hiring slowed goes up to 50% for those in the logistics industry, 39% for those in tech, and 38% in manufacturing.
Even though unemployment overall currently remains low, and the U.S. and China cut a deal earlier this month lowering a 145% tariff down to a more manageable 30%, workers have reason to feel anxious about their future hiring prospects. Companies have already had to lay off workers as a direct result of these trade policies. And experts have previously toldFortune that continued uncertainty about the economy could lead employers to hold off on hiring.
Earlier career employees say tariffs are impacting their career prospects the most, according to the ZipRecruiter report. And employees overall are concerned that Trump’s trade policies will require them to make a major career shift moving forward. Nearly half (47%) say they’re looking to switch industries altogether due to tariffs, and which rises to 61% of workers in tech and manufacturing.
It’s important to note that job seekers’ assessment of the current labor market is actually better than it was earlier this year, up around 3.1 percentage points, according to the survey. But the confidence that the same group has for the future is on the decline; job seekers now believe that there will be fewer jobs six months from now then there are today.
“For job seekers, times of macroeconomic uncertainty like this are when they should stay consistent and proactive in pursuing interesting positions—because new opportunities may not come about on the timeline they have in mind,” says ZipRecruiter president Dave Travers.
Brit Morse
brit.morse@fortune.com
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