This is how many employed workers expected to look for a new job

In 2024, 25% of employed workers expected to look for a new job, from 20% to 37% by group. Pew Research Center reported the worker figures from an October 2024 survey. But the stressful part often starts after the decision to look: deciding whether to say it to a former coworker, a current colleague or nobody at all.

25% expected to look within 6 months

Pew’s chart asked employed adults whether they were very or somewhat likely to look for a new job in the next 6 months. The overall figure was 25%. The listed racial and ethnic groups ran from 20% to 37%.

The range changes how private a job search can feel. If your workplace feels still, the Pew number says the search may still be happening quietly around you. White workers were listed at 20%, Black workers at 37%, and Hispanic and Asian workers both at 30%.

Saying the search out loud can be the hard part

A job search often becomes a speaking decision. You may need to ask for a referral, say you are looking, or sound confident without sounding needy. For people who tense up around judgment, embarrassment can turn one short message into a full rehearsal.

Indeed’s 2014 Newsroom release gives that feeling a public benchmark. In a 10-country survey of 10,000 job seekers, 64% said they feel anxious when searching for a new job, 50% feel secretive and 33% feel like they are leading a double life.

Why can being found out feel so risky?

Indeed reported that, in the U.S., 52% of respondents said their biggest concern was work colleagues finding out about their job search. The same release said 50% of job seekers would not tell a partner when applying for a role.

Those figures fit the awkward former-coworker moment. The risk is not only rejection from the person you message. It is the fear that the search becomes known at work before you control the words, the timing or the audience.

The secrecy benchmark is older, but direct

Indeed said Censuswide conducted the research on its behalf, surveying job seekers in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. The survey covered 10,000 job seekers across 10 countries.

The Indeed release was published in 2014, while Pew’s worker chart is from 2024. They answer different parts of the same workplace moment. Pew gives the share of employed workers expecting to look. Indeed gives the anxiety and secrecy that can sit behind the first conversation.

Every listed worker group in Pew’s job-search measure

Pew’s 2024 worker data gives the broad answer first, then shows how the share varies by listed group. The measure below is the share saying they were very or somewhat likely to look for a new job in the next 6 months.

The lowest listed figure was 20% for White workers. The highest listed figure was 37% for Black workers. Hispanic and Asian workers were each listed at 30%, above the 25% all-employed benchmark in the Pew chart.

What this means for you

If you are employed and quietly looking, the Pew benchmark puts you in a large minority, not an odd exception. If the next step is messaging someone, separate the job-search fact from the emotional load around saying it.

Use one clean sentence first: you are exploring new roles and would value a quick conversation. You do not have to explain the whole story in the opening message. If your voice shakes on a call, slow the first sentence and ask the direct question before you over-explain.