It’s grim news for job seekers, as a new report has highlighted that hiring freezes implemented by human resource managers could be in place for up to two years. 

Breaking into the workforce in 2025-26 is proving tougher than it has been in previous years. Careerminds’ survey of 600 HR leaders found that 66.7% of companies currently have hiring freezes in place, creating a more competitive market for job seekers. 

The survey, which delves into the motivations and impact of these freezes, reveals the following findings: 

• Nearly half (48.3%) of companies expect freezes to last at least 12 months, with 1 in 6 anticipating they’ll continue for two years
  
• 30.6% of employers cite AI adoption as a reason for pausing recruitment
  
• 59.6% of companies point to budget constraints as the main motivator for hiring freezes 

The full blogpost with survey methodology, which can be read here, offers the following insights: 

Hiring freezes are hitting entry-level roles the hardest

The Careerminds survey of 600 HR leaders found that 66.7% of companies have introduced hiring freezes for 2025 and into 2026. Of these, 44.6% are partial freezes affecting specific departments, while 22.1% are company-wide. 

Those who had implemented hiring freezes were also asked to predict how long the halt on recruitment at their company would last:

• 32.4% shared that they foresaw their hiring freeze lasting up to six months 
• 48.3% of companies’ hiring freezes will last up to 12 months
• 16.2% of companies’ share that their hiring freeze will last between one and two years
• 2.9% of HR managers share that they won’t resume normal hiring practices until 2028

Entry-level job seekers could see a growing lack of roles to apply for, as HR managers who implemented partial hiring freezes admitted that entry-level positions were the ones most impacted.