The Great Fog: Why Job Seekers Can’t Find Their Next Move And What To Do Anyway
- Rachel Cupples
- Feb 9
- 6 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
If your job search feels heavier in 2026 than it did in 2025 or even 2020, you’re not imagining things. This moment we’re living in is brutal. I’m going to try to keep my cool while writing this, but no promises. Welcome to the era of professional uncertainty... or as I am calling it, The Great (career) Fog.
Not the worst.
Not hopeless.
But deeply uncertain.
And tied to life and death scenarios at this point in the United States.
U.S. job openings fell to about 6.5 million, the lowest since 2020, while hiring has remained subdued even amid strong economic growth.
Translation?
The engine is running… but it’s idling.
Economists describe today’s labor market as “low hire, low fire”. Mmmkay, whatever that means.
People are being let go daily. My LinkedIn feed proves it. And in mass quantities for white collar workers. Seems like some propganda talk to me. Clearly we need a new alternator. Being stuck in this frozen fog is not what any job seeker is comfortable with.
I keep reading articles and "thought leadership" posts that claim companies aren’t aggressively hiring... but they aren’t collapsing either. It's hard to keep a pulse on the labor market for anyone (at any level) searching while unemployed. When article after article and social post after post contradict one another, where does a job seeker turn to weather this foggy storm?
The Silent Freeze in White-Collar Careers
Behind the scenes, both employers and employees are hesitating. This creates something far more unsettling than crisis. It creates stagnation.
And stagnation breeds doubt. Which is a loud yet silent killer of moral for job seekers.
💫 Hiring rates in sectors like tech, finance, and communications have slowed dramatically over the past 10 months and will continue to stay low. We may see a slight increase in Q3 this year, but not enough to course correct the damage that's been done.
💫 Competition is fierce, with some postings drawing twice as many applicants as just a few years ago.
💫 Over 70% of Americans say it’s difficult to find a better job, and 75% believe employers now hold the power. Not so oddly enough, employers are now hiring at a much slower pace and in doing creating a lot of unneeded tension internally. Employee experience was on the rise of importance by mid 2021/early 2022 in the U.S. and today, it's consistently declining. What's worse, is that employees now have the experience of having been a part of the increase and now the decline. It's like, "Here is this seatbelt and airbag for your car. We want you to be safe and feel secure" to now, "We never said that. No one can prove the seatbelt and airbag is better for you. Working harder is the only way to try to stay safe. But we never promised or offered that." The gaslighting is enough to make any sane employee look for work elsewhere or even consider looking for a new field of work all together.
Let me translate this into real talk:
The talent didn’t get weaker. The bar just got murkier and is often times being labeled as "higher" and for less compensation.
Fear Is Quietly Driving Career Decisions
Employees aren’t being led by optimism anymore. They’re being led by their own internal risk management function. Let's call a spade, a spade. They are running in full crisis-mode.
According to the 2026 WorkWatch report:
💫 40% expect the job market to worsen, and another 40% expect no improvement.
💫 52% believe layoffs will increase.
💫 Nearly half worry AI could threaten their industry.
Plot twist:
Only 43% plan to job search, far fewer than prior years.
Why?
Because uncertainty makes people cling to what feels safe. Even when it isn’t aligned.
Has safety become the new golden handcuff? When I think about the past two lay-offs I've been impacted by (there have been many more), I've fallen into that same pattern, at my own detriment. Everyone should be job searching in 2026 in white collar professions. It doesn't mean you should leave where you are. It doesn't hurt to keep your pulse on the market as well to see what's being offereed in the market for your skills, experience and expertise.
Let’s Talk About the AI Elephant (can we do this Calmly?)
Yes, AI is reshaping work (and the world!).
But not always the way headlines suggest.
Economists say the decline in white-collar openings is more about structural economic factors than AI... at least for now.
However, jobs will transform, and workers who build AI-adjacent skills will stay ahead.
Meanwhile, research suggests automation could disrupt 85 million jobs globally, while creating 97 million new ones.
Read that again. ⬆️
This is not extinction.
This is evolution.
And history shows us evolution rewards the adaptable.
Do companies know what they need and the impact of AI overall? No. There will be a long period of level setting as well. We are not in that period today. Today we are still in the race period.
Reality Check
Let me step out from behind the articles, research, and data for a moment.
Here is what I see every day:
💫 Brilliant leaders questioning their value.
💫 High performers ghosted after final interviews.
💫 "Confident" projecting professionals suddenly unsure how to tell their story.
Listen carefully:
💫 Your worth did not decline just because the market cooled.
💫 Markets shift.
💫 Power cycles.
💫 Opportunity compresses... then expands.
💫 Your job is not to panic. Easier said than done.
💫 Your job is to position.
Intro to recruitingSHEro Solutions' Strategy for Navigating Career Fog
As your job search coach, here is high level what I’d tell you:
💫 Stop job searching like it’s 2019
💫 Build career anti-fragility
💫 Think in terms of trajectory... not titles
💫 Don’t confuse delay with denial
Of course there is a lot more to navigating the fog and the journey to employment.
I am here to help.
If you're a job-seeker in need of a coach to help you navigate your job search journey, I am actively taking on new clients. Check out the latest solutions and services I am offering at recruitingSHEro Solutions! Because I am supporting job-seekers, it is important to me not to add to financial hardship. I do need to be compensated fairly for my expertise and time. For this reason, my fees are discounted for unemployed job seekers. I am also accepting donations to "sponsor" a job seeker's coaching journey (more to come regarding this and how to donate). Let's talk about the options that are best for YOU. You can book a FREE 20-minute introductory meeting with me here.
The Part No One Tells You
Some people will interpret this market as a threat.
Others will recognize it as a sorting mechanism. Because uncertain markets do something powerful:
They favor the prepared and courageous professionals.
The ones who:
💫 lean into growth
💫 learn faster
💫 adapt sooner
💫 move with intention
While others freeze.
I've been that frozen professional. I've also been that prepared and courageous professional. I believe there is a little bit of all of this, in all of us. The human spirit is strong but can only take so many rejections and doors slammed in it's face. And in all transparency, being prepared and courageous is important, but it is never a guarantee. In this market, it's required.
Are you a job seeker or soon to be? Let's work together to make this transition more of a team effort vs. letting ourselves freeze in the fog alone. The fog isn't just coming in. The fog is freezing now and has taken over. Let's team up and ensure your job seeker journey is targeted, focused on the right impact, and is centered to support your specific objectives.
You deserve a job search that respects your nervous system, your lived experience, and your value. You also deserve real-talk from someone who's navigated it themself.
A Final Word From Your recruitingSHEro
Lately, Jerry Springer has popped up on my radar through clips on social media and stories from others. It's had me thinking. Didn't Jerry always have a "final word" type segment to close out his shows? Did I make that up? Just know that the "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry" chant is loud in my head as I reminisce. I know... random.
You Don't Have To Face The Fog Alone.
You do not need perfect clarity to move forward.
You need courage.
You need strategy.
You need momentum.
Because here is the truth and what I want echoing in your mind tonight:
Uncertainty is not the enemy of your career.
Complacency is.
So don’t shrink. Don’t disappear. Don’t wait for the market to feel comfortable again. Move forward anyway.
The leaders of the next decade are being shaped right now.
Shaped in this specific fog.
And something tells me… you were never meant to be ordinary in the first place.
It's important you're the leader or you're there to help shape the future's leaders. Don't stay on the bench and wait to be called. No one is calling up anyone on the bench. They just aren't. Make sure you're not leading a "benched" job search.
Make the decision to book your free 20-minute consultation while slots remain available.
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