The stock market isn’t just jittery. It’s in full panic mode. On April 4, 2025 the Dow Jones plunged over 2,200 points. That’s $6.4 trillion in market value gone in a day. If searching for a job is difficult in a “great economy” imagine how difficult it will be if we go into a depression. Yes I said depression and not recession. Everyone is worried about a stock market crash like 2008 or worse 1929.
The trigger? A fresh wave of aggressive tariffs announced by Donald Trump, met with swift retaliation from China. Wall Street braced for impact and impact came fast.
If you’re feeling stuck right now, you’re not alone. The economy is slowing, the job market is contracting, and talented professionals are finding themselves unsure of what to do next. That uncertainty? It’s real and it’s valid.
Recession Job Market Trends: Why Your Strategy Might Be Failing
Job Listings Reposted 11+ Times in 2024–2025
Data: LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor (aggregated)
| Industry | % of Jobs Reposted 5+ Times | Avg. Time Unfilled |
|---|---|---|
| Tech (Product) | 72% | 11.2 months |
| Healthcare | 63% | 9.5 months |
| Marketing | 67% | 10.4 months |
Simply because companies are reposting a job or multiple roles, it doesn’t mean urgency it means confusion or chaos behind the scenes.They might have outsourced it to multiple recruiters. It doesn’t mean that the role is open again. The role could be entirely FAKE.If you’ve been applying to roles and hearing nothing back, it’s not because you’re not qualified. Many of these listings are frozen, outdated, or never intended to be filled in the first place.
Some Job Seekers Move Forward With Me Before, During and After A Recession
I work with experienced people of many levels. These folks are people just like you. They were frustrated, overlooked, or confused by what’s happening right now.
They have clarity from the moment they start working with me. This is my 4th recession and I know how to navigate them for my clients (job seekers).
They aren’t doing anything wrong. But they are doing things the old way, in a market that no longer responds to effort alone.
One of them just scheduled interviews with 20 companies in three weeks. That didn’t happen because they were lucky. It happened because we trusted me to help them navigate this and I’m not a career coach or a resume writer. Those skill sets might be great for other things but not for landing multiple interviews without applying to jobs.
What If It’s Not About Staring At a Screen In A Recession?
Most high performers assume they just need to try harder. Apply more. Reach out more.
But this isn’t about hustle. It’s about using a strategy that matches the moment. I created that as a science.
Our grandparents had an easier time of finding work for the most part during the Great Depression than people who come to me today. They tell me that they’ve been out of work for a year. This is people who make over $200K a year.
How do you find working harder in a recession? Do you remove the staring at LinkedIn and asking friends to introduce you and really get to work? Many don’t want that option. Your grandparents and great grandparents would’ve been waiting on a line to get work.
There’s a level of casualness about finding work. I’m not casual about it, ever. I experienced the recession of 2001. It was a terrible nightmare for me for years to recover from it.
My Uncle said I got caught with my pants down and I should go home and figure it out. I asked him on Thanksgiving of 2001 what I should do – he said do you know how many recessions you’ll go through during your career? You have to figure out solutions. That is EXACTLY what I did and that is why my clients thrive and survived the worst global economic crash (beyond the Depression) in 2008.
The smartest job candidates are the ones who never stop preparing. The market moves fast during a downturn, and you have to move faster and be prepared for every turn at every minute. The most brilliant ones are the ones who work with me.
The Job Market Is Quiet and That Can Feel Personal
You deserve clarity, not silence. Staying busy or tricking yourself into referring to it as being busy isn’t a strategy. It’s a plan to fail. Sitting on LinkedIn and job boards applying to jobs doesn’t work.
The longer you go without interviews the longer you will understand that you’re going to be judged (incorrectly) on the time out of a role. It’s a clock that is ticking.
When you waste your time because you’re doing what everyone else is doing or telling you to do – I’d ask you to ask them how many people they put into roles during a recession, or their career.
You’re Not Broken. The System Is. Add A Recession To The Mix it’s a Problem.
This market isn’t designed to support mid to senior-level professionals in transition. A “good” job market however people define has proved not to be strong or resilient. Now, people are going to be in trouble.
You’re not too expensive. You’re not overqualified. You’re simply trying to operate in a system that’s outdated and overcrowded.Companies are going to start having even more mass layoffs. Will you hear about it? Probably not if they have great PR folks. I predicted this trend in 2019 as well. How do you not hear about 20,000 layoffs at one company anymore? The company is intentional and has a plan to conceal it. Yes you tell me about WARN notices but guess what? Companies break laws all the time and don’t care about it.
I help people quietly bypass the noise. Not because they’re better. But because they’re ready.n”
A Slowing Economy Doesn’t Mean You’re Stuck
You don’t have to wait for a green light to take your next step.
The market will always send mixed signals. But the best time to move isn’t when things feel certain it’s when others pause.
I currently have one woman interviewing at 20 companies, one man at 19, another at 12 and two that have over 50 companies they’re interviewing with and I won’t stop and they won’t until they find the RIGHT job for them.
Hidden opportunities surface. If the market crashes do you know how flooded the servers will be at companies posting these jobs?
If You’re Feeling Discouraged, That Makes Sense
There’s a lot of noise right now. A lot of pressure to act quickly without a clear path forward.
You don’t need more motivational quotes or listicles. You need traction.
If you’re quietly wondering how others are getting interviews, it might be time to approach your search differently.
I’m not here to push. I’m here when you’re ready. But if we go into a depression it will be more difficult for you. Before everything goes into panic mode if you want to move your search we have to move now.
