Money Moves for the New Year: How to Level Up Your Career
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Here's your money briefing for Tuesday, December 24th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. Welcome to the second episode of our series, Money Moves for the New Year. This week, we're answering your questions about achieving your 2025 financial goals. Today, it's all about work. And we've talked about it on the show throughout this year.
Oh, my gosh. Frustrated maybe doesn't even go far enough. There's a general feeling of stuckness right now.
Well, the whole job market has just really settled down quite a bit. This year, the balance of power started to tilt away from workers as red-hot hiring cooled. The unemployment rate ticked above 4% for the first time since 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Historically, it's still low, but workers are having a harder time landing roles. So will the job market improve in 2025? If you're looking for a new gig, you might share the same New Year's goal as Wafa Shafiq.
I am 25 years old and I'm from Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
What job-market trends should I watch for in 2025?
Wafa worked in marketing for a few years, but quit her job earlier this year to travel for a few months.
So while I'm traveling, I'm also applying and interviewing so that when I'm done around like February, which is when financially I should start working again, that I have something lined up.
She's applied to over 250 jobs in the past few months and knows the type of role she wants to jump into next.
For 2025, I want to land a job that has really great work-life balance, that is at a company that I'm passionate about, that's purpose-driven.
And to accomplish her resolution, she has some questions.
What is being predicted, or what's going to change how easy or difficult the job market is?
To talk about this, let's bring in my colleague Callum Borschers. He writes the On the Clock column and covers the job market. Callum, as we approach the new year, what trends could influence the job market in 2025?
Well, of course, artificial intelligence is top of mind for so many workers. I mean, there is real trepidation among workers about whether AI is going to, as AI fans say, just going to enhance our work, make us more productive. It's going to take away some of the drudgery. That will happen, surely, for some high-end workers. It also seems likely that it will replace certain roles. A lot of folks are trying to figure out which side of that dividing line am I on? This is a topic that comes up in almost every conversation I have with people who, especially if they're looking for a job.
In a tough job market, what could a candidate do to position themselves better?
Networking. I mean, that is like the number one thing that comes up. I've reported a story this year about how the who you know job hunting is really back. If you can get a reference from somebody who's already in the company, that can really increase your chances of at least getting human eyes on your resume. Because remember... For every one job opening right now, especially in some of these white-collar roles, you're getting 300, 400, 500, maybe even 1,000 applicants for those roles. The hiring managers are pretty blunt. We can't look at every single one of these. And so they're relying on some screening tools. But there are a lot of companies where if you have an employee reference, that immediately vaults you to the top of the pile.
And at least you're going to get a real look from a human hiring manager.
You could find good pay, good company culture, and good flexibility, but the job might be missing something you were really hoping for. Should you take it? We'll discuss some steps to help you make that decision. And if you're not quite ready to leave your current job but want to get that promotion or raise, we explore ways to level up your skills. After the break.
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