BambooHR
Workforce Insights: Hiring Edition

Monthly Report – July 2025

Welcome to the July special edition of BambooHR Workforce Insights. This Hiring Edition report combines real-time BambooHR platform data with exclusive HR sentiment survey insights to decode critical patterns in hiring.

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Hiring challenges rise amid stagnant job market

In July 2025, global hiring dropped by 20% while job openings rose by 21%, according to BambooHR platform data. On the surface, this signals a labor market in stasis, but underneath, the hiring ecosystem is undergoing a profound transformation.

BambooHR Workforce Insights: Hiring Edition pairs real-time platform data from over five million employee records with survey-based perspectives from 1,500 US workers and HR leaders. Together, they reveal why hiring is slowing, why employees are staying, and how HR is adapting to new hiring realities.

“We’re in a phase of cautious optimism: the number of advertised job openings suggests underlying demand, but actual hiring and turnover are lagging, reflecting a labor market holding its breath, waiting for clarity.”

Brandon Welch | Sr. Director, Talent Acquisition | BambooHR

The paradox of hiring in 2025: Openings are up, but hiring is down

If hiring in 2025 is a high-wire act, HR is the safety net, the balancing pole, and the person walking the wire all at once.

In July, US hiring dropped 23% month-over-month and 21% year-over-year, even as job openings rose 23% from June and 20% year-over-year. Globally, hiring declined by 20% while job openings rose 21% month-over-month.

This divergence hints at deeper dynamics: employers are posting roles but pulling back on filling them, possibly due to budget constraints, evolving role requirements, or strategic pauses. It’s a signal of market hesitation rather than collapse.

BambooHR’s platform data for July 2025:

  • Global hiring fell 20%, while job openings jumped 21%.
  • Turnover dipped slightly worldwide, with the US following the same pattern.
  • By industry: Hiring dropped for everyone, but restaurant, food, and beverage led in both hires and openings. Nonprofits saw the highest turnover, while tech recorded the lowest hiring and turnover.
  • By region: North America and Latin America had the highest hiring rates, while Europe had the fewest job openings.
  • By company size: Small businesses hired the most employees and experienced the most turnover, while large organizations reported the smallest share of job openings.

Early attrition is rising, and it's costing more than just time

In July 2025, hiring and turnover decreased, while job openings increased for the second month in a row. Turnover decreased 5% globally and in the US month-over-month. Nonprofits saw the highest turnover rate (2.8%) and the sharpest decrease in hiring (41%).

Hiring, job openings & turnover

Month-over-Month (MoM),
Year-over-Year (YoY)
Hires
Job Openings
Turnover
US MoM
-23%
23%
-5%
US YoY
-21%
20%
-15%
Global MoM
-20%
21%
-5%
Global YoY
-20%
18%
-14%
MoM June 2025 to July 2025; YoY July 2024 to July 2025
*Negatives in the above chart indicate a decrease.
https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/21991085/embed

As applicant volume rises, HR teams are facing new challenges with follow-through, retention, and finding the right fit in time.

Survey insights:

  • 44% of HR managers report that new hires have quit within their first month on the job in the past year. From onboarding and equipment setup to payroll and benefits admin, early turnover drains time, energy, and budget from HR teams already overextended.
  • 37% of HR pros say candidates have accepted offers and never showed up in the past year. That trend has a cost, and it’s not just emotional: 86% of those HR teams say no-shows have eaten into recruitment resources.
  • 35% of HR leaders say competition for top talent has increased since going remote. While that opens the talent pool, it also complicates decision-making and makes candidate quality even harder to assess with so many applicants.

Early exits stretch HR teams thin, exhaust recruiting budgets, and undermine employee morale. From onboarding friction to role mismatch, the cost of hiring misalignment is rising fast.

HR's new reality: More applicants, less clarity

As hiring becomes increasingly remote and competitive, misrepresentation is becoming harder to detect and HR professionals are navigating a growing gap between how candidates present themselves and what’s actually true.

Survey insights:

  • More than half (51%) of HR managers have seen applicants misrepresent their qualifications or experience. While 37% of recruiters believe most candidates are honest, 50% remain skeptical—and for good reason.
  • One in four (25%) HR leaders say they’ve experienced more ghosting by candidates after initial interviews, where a candidate fails to respond to follow-ups. More than a third (35%) say candidate misrepresentation overall has increased with remote hiring.
  • Nearly one in three (29%) HR managers say they’ve rescinded job offers because candidates used AI during interviews. The issue isn’t AI itself, but how it’s used: thoughtful support tools can help candidates show up more confidently, while fully AI-generated responses raise red flags about authenticity.

The AI curve: Balancing automation and accountability

AI is changing everything from candidate screening to long-term workforce planning. But here’s the part that doesn’t always make headlines: behind every AI deployment is a human making judgment calls, setting guardrails, and asking the hard questions.

As AI and deep fake technologies become more ubiquitous and harder to detect, recruiters are seeing a spike in applicants who aren’t who they say they are. Gartner predicts that by 2028, one in four candidate profiles worldwide will be fraudulent.

HR is the frontline for ethical AI use at work

HR professionals are doing more than simply using AI—they’re informing how it’s used and what it means for people at work.

HR can help ensure ethical AI use by leading the way in responsible AI enablement and policy, both in their hiring practices and for employees. Adequate training and robust policy are key.

The bottom line? AI won’t replace HR, but automating tedious administrative tasks can help HR teams focus on what truly matters: people.

“HR needs to lead the AI transformation, making sure AI-powered tools augment, rather than replace, human judgment in hiring decisions. As AI’s influence proliferates, HR is the last line of defense in protecting the culture and humanity in the hiring process.”

Jonathan Vaas | Chief Legal Officer and Head of HR | BambooHR

Survey insights:

  • Bias remains a top concern. A quarter (25%) of HR leaders worry that AI could reinforce bias in hiring, while 44% see it as a potential tool for eliminating it. The outcome depends largely on how systems are built, trained, and monitored, so choosing the right AI vendors and partners is critical.
  • Nearly half of hiring managers (48%) are now using AI to help manage high application volumes. But automation is just one piece of a more complex, human-led hiring strategy—one that HR teams are still refining with each new hire.
  • Over half (58%) of hiring managers now use AI to help predict a candidate’s long-term success. However, as new laws like the EU AI Act emerge, organizations—and HR teams—should leverage AI in a way that ensures legal compliance with any applicable laws.
  • 22% of HR professionals believe AI will ultimately help them make better hiring decisions as long as it’s used intentionally and in concert with human judgment. The challenge now is setting clear expectations and leading by example: showing how AI can support, rather than distort, the human side of hiring.
  • One area where AI has near-universal appeal? Administrative tasks. Two-thirds (67%) of HR professionals say they would gladly offload repetitive office work to AI-powered tools, freeing them to focus on strategy, culture, and employee experience.

Industry Trends: Hiring, Job Openings & Turnover

  • Restaurant, food, and beverage had the highest proportion of hiring.
  • Nonprofit had the highest proportion of turnover and was the only industry to see an increase in this area from the previous month; turnover decreased across all other industries.
  • The tech sector was last in all categories, with the lowest proportion of hiring, job openings, and turnover.
  • Hiring decreased significantly across all industries from June to July, with the nonprofit sector leading the way at a decrease of 41%.
  • Job openings increased across all industries from June to July with restaurant, food, and beverage at an increase of 52%

July 2025

Proportion of Total Employees

Hires
Job Openings
Turnover
June to July 2025 Notable Changes
Construction
3.1%
0.9%
2.4%
Hiring decreased by 19%
Travel & Hospitality
2.8%
0.9%
2.6%
Hiring decreased by 29%
Healthcare
3.0%
1.2%
2.5%
Job openings increased by 19%
Finance
3.0%
0.8%
2.5%
Job openings increased by 32%
Nonprofit
2.7%
1.3%
2.8%
Hiring decreased by 41%
Restaurant, Food & Beverage
3.2%
0.8%
2.3%
Turnover decreased by 15%
Technology
2.0%
0.5%
1.8%
Job openings increased by 14%
Education
2.8%
0.9%
2.4%
Turnover decreased by 28%
July 2025 - Proportion of Total Global Employees

Regional Trends: Hiring, Job Openings & Turnover

  • North America and Latin America (LATAM) had the highest percentage of hires in proportion to total employees, while Middle East/Africa (MEA) had the lowest percentage of hires.
  • North America had the highest proportion of turnover and MEA had the lowest.
  • Europe had the lowest percentage of job openings in proportion to total employees and North America had the highest.
Region
Hires
Job Openings
Turnover
North America
2.6%
0.9%
2.4%
Europe
1.9%
0.4%
1.9%
Latin America
2.5%
0.6%
1.9%
Asia Pacific
2.1%
0.6%
1.9%
Middle East/Africa
1.9%
0.8%
1.2%
July 2025 – Proportion of Total Employees

Company Size Trends: Hiring, Job Openings & Turnover

  • Smaller companies (<25 employees) had the highest percentage of hires and turnover in proportion to total employees.
  • Larger companies (151+ employees) had the lowest percentage of job openings in proportion to total employees.
Company size
Hires
Job Openings
Turnover
<25 employees
2.9%
1.1%
2.6%
25-150 employees
2.5%
1.1%
2.3%
151+ employees
2.5%
0.6%
2.3%
July 2025 – Proportion of Total Employees

Employees are choosing stability over satisfaction

Despite early attrition risks, many employees are staying put, even if the job isn’t what they expected.

Survey insights:

  • 61% of employees say they’d choose job security over satisfaction. Just 26% would prioritize satisfaction. In today’s environment, people want to feel safe first, and satisfied second.
  • 58% of employees remain in their current roles. Among them, 43% are waiting to see how the economy unfolds, and 25% say they’re overqualified but value the stability their job provides.
  • More than half of employees in each generational group are unlikely to job hop: 69% of Gen Z have stayed in their role compared to 51% of Baby Boomers, 54% of Gen X, and 59% of Millennials. This is a sign that younger workers may be holding onto early-career roles more tightly amid growing concerns that AI and automation are making entry-level jobs harder to come by.

From Gen Z to Baby Boomers, employees are sending clear signals: they want security and clarity.

“We spend too much time slicing the workforce by generational differences and not enough time addressing their commonalities. Regardless of your age, the real question is: do you feel seen, supported, and set up to succeed? That’s the ground HR and hiring leaders have to own during this sizable shift in the labor market. Transparency is key. Make sure you design meaningful roles that let every employee see the impact they’re making and the growth they can achieve.”

Brandon Welch | Sr. Director, Talent Acquisition | BambooHR

For HR, the challenge now is turning passive retention into meaningful engagement—ensuring that employees who choose to stay aren't just waiting out uncertainty, but also finding purpose, growth, and connection in their roles.

HR pros are leading change in 2025

From early attrition to AI adoption to shifting employee expectations, the hiring landscape in 2025 is rapidly changing.

How can HR bridge the gap between jobs posted and filled, while managing unprecedented volume and misrepresentation?

  • Design for clarity: Ensure job descriptions are aligned with the role’s day-to-day reality.
  • Use AI ethically: Leverage it for scale to beat fake applicants and surface real ones.
  • Refine onboarding: Capitalize on new-hire optimism with a balance of cultural education, team building, and role training.
  • Track retention risk: Monitor early quit trends and preempt disengagement with regular employee surveys.

BambooHR data shows that even with hiring and turnover remaining relatively stable, there are cracks forming. Proactive, empowered HR teams can make all the difference.

BambooHR Platform Data Methodology

All source data is from the BambooHR® platform, gathered between July 2018 and July 2025, and includes over 5 million employee data points across the globe.

The data includes employee and manager performance scores, PTO requests, and other data points that have been analyzed in an aggregated, anonymized way to protect the privacy of employees and the integrity of the metrics.

Turnover includes all types of separation of an employee from their company, including voluntary and involuntary separations.

Sentiment Survey Methodology

BambooHR conducted this research using an online survey prepared by Method Research and distributed by RepData among n=1,502 adults (age 18+) in the United States who are full-time salaried employees who currently work in a desk job position, and including a subgroup of n=502 HR professionals who have a manager title or above.

The sample was equally split between genders, with a spread of age groups, race groups, and geographies represented. Data was collected from April 1 to April 15, 2025.

About BambooHR

BambooHR® is the leading HR software platform that sets people free to do great work. Intuitively designed and user-friendly HR, payroll, and benefits administration in one unified ecosystem means less focus on process and more on growing what matters most—people.

With AI-powered insights and comprehensive reporting, HR leaders gain the data they need to craft strategies to enhance employee engagement and retention while effectively measuring success. Trusted by HR professionals in over [companyCount2] companies across 190 countries and 50 industries, BambooHR supports millions of users throughout their employee journey.

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