CW: This article contains sensitive content.
Job seekers in 2025 are expressing even more despair over the search than in previous years, to the point that lives may be at stake. On social media, forums, and personal chats with family and friends, some of the long-term unemployed have reached a point of so little hope that they’re openly wishing for death.
Despite repeated assurances that the economy was in a good place during the Biden administration, tech layoffs starting in 2022 and global uncertainty over unprecedented times have made for hesitant hiring managers. As recession worries grow in 2025, the problem is only getting worse.
‘Every day I wake up so hopeless’
Concerns over the job market have been intensifying for several years. Even before the pandemic, job seekers expressed frustration over new difficulties with the process. Automated systems rejected resumes before they could get in front of human eyes. Employers largely stopped bothering to tell people that they weren’t interested or ghosted them after interviews. Fake job postings and scammers cluttered LinkedIn and Indeed.
The unwillingly unemployed complained that they would send out hundreds, even thousands of resumes and barely hear back from anyone. They’d go on five interviews for a single job only to be rejected. Months and years went by without employment until some gave up the search altogether.
The problem got worse, of course, after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But even as the economy bounced back as nations adjusted and vaccines went into arms, these complaints persisted. Today, people seem to be reaching their breaking point.
“I don’t believe in hell, but if there is one, I’m in it,” said one despairing job seeker highlighted by X user @realteaemoji. “In a constant nonsensical, f*ck a** loop.”
“I have bipolar disorder and this time period has literally killed my spirit. I’m hanging on to a thread.”
“This has put me into one of the worst headspaces I’ve ever been in,” complained another. “Every day I wake up so hopeless and full of dread.”
Some were even worse, expressing a desire for death and raising concerns about suicide risks.
“I just want a painless and quick death. No point to live on.”
Job seekers say they can’t find work at McDonald’s or Walmart
In 2024, desperate job seekers began to report that even the options at the very bottom of the barrel weren’t hiring. Posts on the r/jobs and r/recruitinghell subs on Reddit grew ever more despondent, with users crying out that no one would give them a job.
“Literally no one will hire me. It’s really destroying my soul,” wrote u/spidermanrocks6766 in October. “Almost an entire year of being unemployed. It especially hurts when it’s places like McDonald’s and Walmart sending me the dreaded ‘unfortunately we have chosen to pursue other candidates who more closely align……’”
Another user, from a since-deleted account, complained in June that no one would believe they had tried every trick in the book to get employed anywhere.
“I have literally applied to everything,” they said. “I make a new resume for every job I apply too and even change my address by just choosing a random address in the suburb where the job is. I can’t even get a job at mcdonalds or any retail. I change my resume like removing my bachelors degree and only putting high school down for jobs like mcdonalds.”
On March 3, 2025, u/3pychmak posted their resume after enduring over 600 rejections. Despite an impressive list of qualifications with over 22 years of experience, they have nothing to show for their efforts.
“The constant rejections are soul crushing,” they said.
Why is it so hard to find a job right now?
This question has been on the minds of job seekers and employment experts for years. Baffled by record-low unemployment numbers juxtaposed with so many complaints that finding a job seems impossible, some experts dug further to find an answer.
Economics and economic policy writer for The Atlantic Rogé Karma found that “two seemingly incompatible things are happening in the job market at the same time.”
“Even as the unemployment rate has hovered around 4 percent for more than three years, the pace of hiring has slowed to levels last seen shortly after the Great Recession, when the unemployment rate was nearly twice as high,” he wrote.
“The percentage of workers voluntarily quitting their jobs to find new ones, a signal of worker power and confidence, has fallen by a third from its peak in 2021 and 2022 to nearly its lowest level in a decade.”
Karma calls it the “Big Freeze.”
What can job seekers do about it?
Unfortunately, much of what is causing this hiring problem seems to be on the employer’s end. Other employment experts speaking to Newsweek listed more potential culprits besides people with jobs staying put, including:
- Companies over-relying on automation and AI to screen applicants.
- Employers seeking over-qualified candidates willing to work for low pay.
- Job seekers mass-applying instead of tailoring resumes to each position.
- “Ghost jobs” from companies only pretending to be hiring.
- Companies spending record profits on executive bonuses instead of creating new positions.
According to HR consultant Bryan Driscoll, 26 percent of U.S. workers don’t plan to look for a new job this year. Considering the market conditions, this is probably wise.
For more information about suicide prevention or to speak with someone confidentially, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (U.S.) or Samaritans (U.K.).
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
