BambooHR
Workforce Insights
Monthly Report — October 2025
Welcome to the October edition of the BambooHR Workforce Insights report, where we dive into the latest trends shaping the world of employment.
Workforce Insights is powered by aggregated data trends from the millions of admins, managers, and employees who use BambooHR® in the US and across the globe.
Global Hiring Hits Four-Year Low
The 2025 labor market feels more opaque than ever, thanks to layoffs, government shutdowns, and volatile trade policies. BambooHR’s comprehensive platform data sourced from over 5 million employee data points across the world provides a global perspective on the current job market, giving you a peek behind the curtain into what’s really going on in today’s economy.
In October 2025, global hiring and turnover continued to drop, and the proportion of hires to total employees reached its lowest level since February 2021. Meanwhile, as turnover and hiring decline, job openings continue to rise, with the proportion of openings rising 3% from September to October.
The October global job numbers reflect year-over-year trends: Since October 2024, hires are down 17%, turnover has fallen 16%, and job openings have increased 11%. Companies appear poised for growth, but both employers and employees are still hesitant to make big moves in the wake of an eggshell economy.
The US is faring about the same as the global market, with year-over-year declines in turnover and hiring (down 16% and 19%, respectively) and a 15% rise in job openings.
More takeaways from October:
- Industry trends: All sectors saw month-over-month declines in hiring and turnover, while restaurant, food, and beverage had the greatest growth in job openings with a 21% increase.
- Regional patterns: North America had the highest proportions of hires, turnover, and job openings, while Latin America led in job openings growth, with a 15% month-over-month increase.
- Company size dynamics: Mid-sized firms (25-150 employees) had the highest proportion of hires; smaller firms (fewer than 25 employees) had the lowest.
Hiring, Job Openings, and Turnover
Globally, in October 2025, hiring was down 12%, turnover was down 15%, and job openings were up 2.8% compared to September.
Hiring
- In the US:
- 12% decrease in hiring from September 2025 to October 2025.
- 19% decrease in hiring year-over-year from October 2024.
- Globally:
- 12% decrease in hiring from September 2025 to October 2025.
- 17% decrease in hiring year-over-year from October 2024.
Job openings
- In the US:
- 3% increase in job openings from September 2025 to October 2025.
- 15% increase in job openings year-over-year from October 2024.
- Globally:
- 2.8% increase in job openings from September 2025 to October 2025.
- 11% increase in job openings year-over-year from October 2024.
Turnover
- In the US:
- 16% decrease in turnover from September 2025 to October 2025.
- 16% decrease in turnover year-over-year from October 2024.
- Globally:
- 15% decrease in turnover from September 2025 to October 2025.
- 16% decrease in turnover year-over-year from October 2024.
Month-over-Month (MoM),
Year-over-Year (YoY)
Industry Trends: Hiring, Job Openings, and Turnover
- All industries saw a drop in hiring and turnover from September to October, with education experiencing the greatest decreases.
- Restaurant, food, and beverage had the highest proportion of hiring and turnover, at 2.7% and 3%, respectively.
- The nonprofit sector once again had the highest proportion of job openings.
- Education had the lowest proportion of hiring and turnover among all industries.
- Tech had the lowest proportion of job openings across all industries.
Regional Trends: Hiring, Job Openings, and Turnover
- Turnover decreased across all regions month-over-month with Middle East/Africa (MEA) leading the way at 23%.
- North America had the highest percentage of hires in proportion to total employees, while MEA had the lowest percentage of hires.
- Europe had the lowest percentage of job openings in proportion to total employees; North America had the highest, followed closely by MEA.
- Job openings increased by 15% from September to October in Latin America (LATAM).
- Hires increased 19% in Europe from September to October.
Company Size Trends: Hiring, Job Openings, and Turnover
- Hires and turnover dropped for all company sizes from September to October, while job openings rose.
- Mid-sized companies (25-150 employees) had the highest percentage of hires in proportion to total employees. In contrast to previous months, smaller companies (<25 employees) had the lowest proportion of hires and turnovers.
- Larger companies (151+ employees) had the lowest percentage of job openings in proportion to total employees.
Methodology
All source data is from the BambooHR platform, gathered between December 2018 and October 2025, and includes over 5.01 million employee data points across the globe.
The data includes hiring, turnover, and job openings 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.
About BambooHR
BambooHR® is the leading HR software solution that sets people free to do great work® by managing the complex work of supporting employees and succeeding as a business, while giving leaders all the data they need to make informed strategic decisions.
Intuitively designed and easy-to-use benefits administration, payroll, performance, time tracking, and reporting, where everything works together means less focus on process and more focus on growing what matters most—people.
Over the past 15 years, BambooHR has been the trusted partner of HR professionals at more than 33 thousand companies with employees in over 190 countries and 50 industries, supporting millions of users throughout their employee experience.
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