In many ways, workers are still reeling from the pandemic.
After a tumultuous few years, worrying about what will come next is causing more employees to suffer from so-called layoff anxiety.
According to Clarify Capital’s 2025 survey of 1,000 Americans, 1 in 3 adults have layoff anxiety. It’s especially impacting younger workers: among Generation Z, the share with layoff anxiety jumps to 40%.
“Despite a strong job market, economic uncertainty and high-profile layoffs are fueling widespread anxiety,” said Michael Baynes, co-founder and CEO of Clarify Capital.
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This worry is also shaping how employees view their jobs, the report found. More than two-thirds of workers now value job security over career growth, and nearly 1 in 3 would take a 10% to 20% pay cut to avoid being laid off.
“Job stability, rather than job availability, is the major cause of workplace stress today,” Baynes said.
In another survey from ZipRecruiter on job seeker confidence, most workers said there was about a 25% chance they would be laid off in the next six months — even though the actual share of people being laid off each month is much smaller than that, according to Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter. In December, the number of layoffs totaled just 1.8 million, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
“That suggests quite a high degree of layoff anxiety,” she said.
Why workers are worried
Workers are still recovering from the shock of the Covid pandemic, according to Pollak. Between March and April of 2020, “22 million workers were laid off,” she said, that was a “recent and jarring experience.”
In fact, the U.S. job market has undergone a dramatic transformation since then.
After the pandemic, employers rushed to hire. Job openings rose to historic levels, unemployment fell to its lowest point since the late 1960s and wages grew at their fastest pace in decades. Ultimately the pace of hiring slowed but, layoffs have remained low by historical standards.
As of the most recent tally, the labor market is strong although overall job growth is showing signs of slowing.
“At a time of high uncertainty and volatility, the job market is providing some reassurance, at least for now,” said Mark Hamrick, Bankrate’s senior economic analyst.
The quits rate is another important indicator of job seeker confidence, according to Allison Shrivastava, an economist at job site Indeed.
“Workers tend to feel more comfortable quitting when they are confident in their ability to find another job,” she said.
After rising dramatically during the “great resignation” between 2021 and 2022, the quits rate declined along with the pullback in hiring and job openings. In September, the quits rate hit a low and now stands at just 2%.
“Anytime you have a shock to the labor market, it’s going to take some time for that dust to settle,” Shrivastava said of the mood among workers.
Still, “there are reasons to be optimistic right now — so much has happened in such a short period of time, it’s remarkable we still have a strong labor market foundation,” she said.
“Whether or not you have this anxiety over layoffs would be contingent on what sector you are in as well,” Shrivastava said.
Health care and retail were among some of the bright spots in the most recent jobs report, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while professional and business services and leisure and hospitality showed signs of weakness.
How to conquer layoff anxiety
“If you think there’s a chance that you will be laid off, you can either be frozen by fear or focused by fear,” said Ivan Misner, founder of business networking organization BNI. “It’s a framing of the mindset that makes a difference,” he said.
“Layoff anxiety is inevitable, everyone is going to have it, the question is what are you going to do with it,” Misner said.
Transparency plays a crucial role in combating layoff anxiety, according to Clarify Capital’s Baynes.
“Workers who feel informed about their company’s financial health and restructuring plans tend to experience lower anxiety levels,” he said.
Employees can — and should — make use of any resources that employers provide, such as outplacement services and resume building, Misner said, as well as connecting with business contacts.
“A really strong network can increase your chances of securing new roles quickly,” he said. “Referrals are very powerful when it comes to looking for jobs.”
Career adaptability is also key, Baynes added. Given continuing education courses, online classes, certification programs and boot camps, there are more opportunities for workers to ramp up their expertise to stay competitive.
Tending to their own financial health is equally important. “Managing layoff anxiety starts with financial preparation — building savings and reducing debt can provide a critical safety net,” Baynes said.