• Faced with dwindling job opportunities, American workers feel helpless.

• It is more difficult for employees to find a new job and they are less willing to quit, labor market experts told BI.

• The reason for this is probably the fear of a recession, which has caused workers to stay at home in the past.

The American labor market is in a tight spot.

This should come as no surprise to current job seekers, who are finding it increasingly difficult to find a new job as hiring numbers decline and job boards become empty.

The stagnation has led to an increase in the number of “trapped” workers – frustrated employees who say they would like to quit their jobs but then stay because of their constant fear of a possible recession.

A 24-year-old histology associate named Amanda, who spoke to Business Insider, is one of those who feels this way. She has decided to stay in her current position because there are limited openings in her field and changing employers would likely result in a salary cut of at least a third.

“I feel trapped here,” Amanda said. “If I leave, I’ll be financially ruined, and that’s why I don’t want to or can’t leave.”

Americans have long complained about feeling stuck in an unsatisfying role, but that feeling seems to be getting stronger: Since the pandemic, Americans have been quitting their jobs at a lower rate than ever before. In July, the quit rate fell to just 2.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Nevertheless, job satisfaction fell in 26 areas last year, according to an annual survey by the Conference Board.

Google search interest for the search term “quit your job” has declined by 11 percent in the last year, according to data from the search analytics tool Glimpse.

The term “stuck at work” is now becoming increasingly popular, with interest increasing by 9% in the past year.

The membership of the subreddit r/hatemyjob has more than doubled in the past two years. According to historical data from analytics site SubredditStats, the community’s user base grew to 30,000 in August, up from 14,700 in 2022.

“I’m stuck in my job,” wrote one user on the subreddit. “I don’t like my job anymore. I feel like I’m stuck because of the money. I guess that’s a good problem to have.”

“I’m just sick of this job. I’ve tried everything to hold on, but now I just can’t do it anymore,” wrote another user, adding that he has been looking for a job related to his degree for over a year. The search has been unsuccessful, he said, citing “tough” conditions on the job market.

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“I really want to quit this job, but I can’t afford it.”

Fears of recession are omnipresent

When the economy slows down, workers typically hole up in their jobs, as recessions are often accompanied by a collapse in job quit rates, as historical Fed data shows.

The economy has not yet entered a recession, but fears of an impending downturn are growing. In the markets, investors panicked last week, sparking a huge sell-off after July payrolls came in lower than expected and the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%.

According to a recent Affirm poll, most Americans now believe the economy is in recession, even though GDP continued to grow in the second quarter.

As data from Glimpse shows, Google search interest in the term “recession” has exploded by 230 percent in the last month.

“I wouldn’t say we’re in a recession or anything like that,” Raymond Lee, CEO of career outplacement firm Careerminds, told BI. “I would say, though, from my perspective, a lot of people are staying in their jobs because I think there’s a lot of uncertainty… People are trying to stay where they are and not make any major changes.”

Korn Ferry, a consulting firm that provides career transition and outplacement services, said it has seen an increase in inbound calls from job seekers. That’s the opposite of what the company experienced during the post-pandemic hiring boom – and it’s a clear sign that the “engine is slowing down,” according to Radhika Papandreou, president of Korn Ferry’s North American arm.

In general, clients are taking longer to secure a new job and appear to place job security as a top priority, Papandreou said.

“People are also reluctant to leave their jobs to look for other jobs unless they feel they can get something secure and long-term there,” she added. “There’s a bit of a feeling of, ‘I don’t want to be the last in and the first out.'”

Labor market forecasters expect the slowdown in hiring to continue even as the Fed begins to ease monetary policy. According to the latest survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, only 15 percent of small businesses said they planned to add new jobs in July, down from over 30 percent at the peak a few years ago.

Read the original article on Business Insider