Workers’ reluctance to change jobs is closely tied to their perception of the labor market. As our chart, based on , shows, confidence in the availability of good jobs has deteriorated sharply over the past two years.
While almost 70 percent of Americans thought it was a good time to find a good job in the U.S. in 2022, that sentiment has since reversed. As of Q4 2025, more than seven in ten respondents said it was a bad time to find a good job. This shift in perception helps explain why workers are staying put, even as the labor market remains solid by many traditional measures.
