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Initial jobless claims for the week ending March 15th came in at 223,000 versus the 224,000 that economists were expecting. Generally speaking, jobless claims have hovered between 200 and 250,000 claims per week for the past year, but workers are increasingly concerned about the labor market. According to the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment survey, consumer expectations that unemployment will increase are at their highest level in six months. Joining me now in studio to break it all down, we've got Daniel Zhao, who is the Glassdoor senior economist. Okay, so let's start with the jobless claims because it's seemed like we were getting back to and really hovering at this pre-pandemic normal that was somewhere in that 200,000 ballpark. Is it still healthy from what we're seeing at this juncture?

Jobless claims are still painting the picture of a job market where layoffs have not spiked. They haven't really increased the level that you might get if you're just reading the headlines, right? And I think it's important to remember that even though you might see a headline about a massive layoff at a large company, a lot of layoffs happen at small companies at mom and pop shops that might have to shut down. And overall, the picture that we're seeing is that layoffs remain relatively stable, and in fact by some measures are still a little bit below where they were before the pandemic.

So what are you seeing right now in the sentiment among workers at this juncture?

Well, with Glassdoor data, what we see with our employee confidence index is actually a record low in how confident employees are in their employers' business outlook. So just 44% of employees had a positive business outlook in February, which is the lowest stretching back to 2016 when our data begins. So clearly, even though some of the headline indicators about the job market might be healthy, workers are not feeling the same way.

What were some of the largest pain points that were elucidated between the survey data and the data points that you studied?

Well, I think the big problem that workers are facing right now is that they're feeling a lot of anxiety, especially about the economic uncertainty that we're hearing so much about in the news. So for example, when we look at a term like when we look at Glassdoor reviews that mention layoffs, those are up 5% year over year. We see that there's a little bit of an uptick in some of the reviews that talk about recession, that talk about inflation. And overall, I think the theme so far in 2025, not just for investors and executives, but also for workers is uncertainty.

You know, I saw this study from Headspace here, and it found over half of employees have considered quitting due to their mental health. Is work more stressful than it used to be, kind of broad brush from the data that you're seeing here?

Well, I think that we are seeing a lot more workers talk about mental health and well-being in the workplace. In fact, when we look at Glassdoor reviews, we do see more workers talking about things like well-being, empathy from their leaders, setting boundaries, burnout, you know, more these mental health topics. And to some extent, you know, you could read that as, well, work is more challenging right now, and I think there is a lot of anxiety. But I think maybe the positive spin is that workers also feel more comfortable nowadays talking about mental health in the workplace with their peers, maybe with their managers. Obviously, it's still a sensitive subject for many people, but we are seeing a lot more people willing to talk about it in the workplace.

What should anxious job seekers be doing to find their new position? Or right now, is this kind of an uncertain job market just holistically from what you're saying?

There is a lot of uncertainty, there's a lot of anxiety right now. So I would say that the first thing to do is to step back and take a deep breath, right? So you know, we always talk about with investors, we say that time in the market is better than timing the market, and that's actually applicable to for the job search. Like you don't necessarily want to burn yourself out by getting too focused on how things are doing this week or this month, because to mix metaphors, it's a marathon, not a sprint, right? You have to make sure that you are staying healthy in terms of how you're approaching your job search. And then on the more short-term side, I think it's really important for job seekers to do their research. There are always parts of the economy that are growing or shrinking no matter where the business cycle is headed, and so there are those companies or industries out there that are hiring. It's just a question of doing the extra legwork right now to find them.

What is the skill set, the number one skill set perhaps that regardless of the industry or the type of company that is hiring, can make you stand out more right now?

Well, I think strong communication is really important, and that's something that's probably going to be even more important as we think about this world of AI, you know, everybody's got to mention AI nowadays. But that human element, that ability to not just convey the information that you want, but also to understand what the other side is trying to get out of it. I think those skills are absolutely crucial to a whole bunch of different domains, a whole bunch of different industries. Doesn't matter whether you're a customer service rep, or you're a senior director of marketing, like those communication skills are fundamental.

Excellent, Daniel. Thanks so much for joining us once again in studio.

Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.