Welcome to the ‘Great Freeze’

Why This Is Your Wake-Up Call for Career Ownership

You are not imagining it. Something strange is happening in the job market right now, and we understand the challenges you are facing.

It’s not just you. The ‘Great Freeze’ is a widespread phenomenon in the job market. Companies are holding onto employees they don’t need, workers are stuck in dead-end jobs, and qualified professionals are struggling to find employment. If you’re feeling trapped, you’re not alone.

This is not a normal recession or boom. It is something weirder and more frustrating. However, understanding what is really happening could be the push you need to take control of your career and pave the way for your personal and professional growth.

The Three-Way Standoff Nobody is Talking About

The U.S. added only 22,000 jobs in the last reported month, while the unemployment rate climbed to 4.3% (Bureau of Labor Statistics via Visual Capitalist, 2025). However, here is the strange part: companies are not conducting mass layoffs either.

We are in a bizarre holding pattern where:

• Companies won’t fire (but won’t invest in employees)
• Workers can’t grow (but can’t find better options)
• Job seekers can’t get hired (but positions remain open)

Why Companies Won’t Fire (Even When They Want To)

Remember when companies would clean house during challenging times? Not anymore. In July 2025, the monthly quit rate was just 2.0%, with 3.2 million quits (High5Test, 2025). Companies have learned it’s cheaper to keep unhappy employees than replace them.

Here’s why they’re hoarding talent they don’t even want:

Replacement costs are astronomical. Culture Amp estimates that the total costs of losing an employee can range from 50% to 400% of an employee’s salary depending on seniority. (SelectSoftwareReviews, 2025). For a $75,000 annual salary could result in $37,500 to $300,000 in turnover costs, with the most cited average for skilled professionals being approximately $150,000.​

The talent pool has dried up. 42% of hiring decision-makers report having open positions they cannot fill at their company (Express Employee Professionals via SelectSoftwareReviews, 2025). They’d rather keep mediocre performers than risk having nobody.

Severance packages are expensive. Companies such as Amazon, Morgan Stanley, and AT&T mandated a return to the office for five days a week. These mandates often aim to reduce the workforce without paying severance. They’re trying to make people quit instead.

Legal risks are too high. With employment lawsuits on the rise, it’s safer to keep underperformers and document everything than risk a wrongful termination suit.

The result? A silent but deadly practice known as ‘Quiet cutting’. You might still have your job title, but your responsibilities are shrinking, your projects are disappearing, and your career is slowly withering away.

Why Workers Can’t Grow (Even With Experience)

Having a job would give you leverage. Think again.

51% of U.S. employees — or roughly 1 in 2 workers — are either actively or passively searching for new job opportunities (Gallup via Inspirus, 2024). Half of all workers want out. But they’re stuck.

Here’s what’s blocking your growth:

Internal mobility is dead. Companies have eliminated middle management layers. There’s nowhere to get promoted to. The person above you isn’t retiring—they can’t afford to.

Lateral moves are frozen. An environment of low layoffs, hiring and quitting creates challenges for job seekers. “There’s a high degree of stagnation right now (CNBC, 2025). Companies won’t let you transfer departments because they can’t backfill your role.

Skills development stopped. Training budgets were the first to get cut. 41% of companies globally plan to cut workforces by 2030 due to AI advancements (World Economic Forum January 2025). Why train someone they’re planning to replace with AI?

Pay raises are extinct. Compensation concerns surged, with a 7.9-point drop, the largest decline in two years in employee satisfaction (Inspirus, 2025). Companies know you have nowhere else to go, so why pay more?

You’re not growing—you’re slowly becoming obsolete while still showing up every day.

Why the Unemployed Can’t Get Jobs (Despite Open Positions)

This is the cruelest irony: Federal job openings data reflect official openings standing 11% above February 2020 levels (Indeed Hiring Lab, 2024). Jobs exist. But nobody’s getting hired.

Nearly two million people in America were long-term unemployed (jobless for 27-plus weeks) — almost double the number recorded in early 2023 (Bureau of Labor Statistics via Visual Capitalist, 2025).

Here’s the trap job seekers face:

The perfect candidate syndrome. Companies would rather leave positions open for months than hire someone who’s 90% qualified. Firms are less likely to hire applicants who have been unemployed for a longer duration (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, 2025).

The experience paradox. Entry-level jobs require experience. Experienced workers are “overqualified.” The number of vacant jobs per unemployed worker and the monthly probability that an unemployed worker found a job fell by about one-third (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, 2025).

Ghost jobs are everywhere. Companies post jobs they never intend to fill to look like they’re growing, collect resumes for “future needs,” or justify why current employees need to work harder.

Automated rejection systems. Your resume never reaches human eyes. AI screens you out for missing one keyword, having a gap, or being unemployed “too long.”

The Psychology of the Freeze: Why Everyone’s Paralyzed

This isn’t just economics – it’s psychology. All three groups are trapped by fear:

Companies fear commitment. We expect real gross domestic product growth to slow in 2024 and 2025, compared with the solid 2.5% growth posted in 2024 (Morningstar, 2024). They won’t hire because the economy might tank. They won’t fire because they might need those people if things improve.

Workers fear unemployment. The leading reason employees choose to leave a job, selected by 32.4% of employees who quit their job this year, is a toxic or negative work environment (iHire, 2024). However, they stay anyway because being miserable with a paycheck beats being unemployed.

Job seekers fear accepting the wrong thing. After months of rejection, when an offer finally comes, they worry it’s not good enough. Or they’ve been rejected so much they’ve stopped trying. Job seekers lose steam, skills deteriorate (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, 2025).

Why This Time Really Is Different

Past downturns had endpoints. Recessions ended. Hiring resumed. Growth returned. This freeze is different because structural forces are making it permanent:

Demographics are broken. Boomers can’t afford to retire. Millennials have no path to advance. Gen Z can’t get started. Nearly half of the employees surveyed had been with their current employer for five years or less (Nectar, 2025).

Technology eliminates the middle. AI isn’t replacing everyone – it’s replacing the middle-skill, middle-management jobs that were career stepping stones. What’s left are low-wage service jobs and high-skill specialist roles with nothing in between.

Globalization reversed. Remote work was supposed to open opportunities. Instead, according to KPMG, merger and acquisition activity is expected to surge in 2025 (FranchiseWire, 2025). Companies are consolidating, not expanding.

Breaking Free: The Case for Career Ownership

You can’t fix the job market. But you don’t have to remain its victim.

While everyone else is frozen, waiting for permission to grow, some professionals are taking control through business ownership. They’re not waiting for promotions that won’t come or applying for jobs that don’t really exist.

A Career Ownership Coach™ from The Entrepreneur’s Source® isn’t selling you a dream. They’re offering an escape route from the freeze.

They’ve been where you are. These aren’t academic advisors. They’re former corporate professionals who found their way out and now guide others.

They focus on fit. Your coach starts by understanding your goals, skills, and resources. Only then do they explore options. Many people discover business ownership isn’t right for them – and that’s okay.

They navigate the transition. Moving from employee to owner is scary. Your coach has helped hundreds make this shift. They know every fear, doubt, and obstacle you’ll face.

Why Career Ownership Breaks the Freeze

The same forces paralyzing traditional employment create opportunities for business owners:

Companies won’t hire, but still need services. Service-based businesses with repeat customers and low overhead are expected to generate $46 billion in 2025 (Neighborly, 2025). They’re outsourcing everything from cleaning to IT support.

Workers want flexibility companies won’t provide. The high-inflation environment has shifted perspectives among white-collar professionals, leading to increased interest in career ownership as an alternative path.

The Three Types Who Thrive in Ownership

The Frustrated High Performer: You’ve hit the ceiling at work. No amount of effort yields advancement. A Career Ownership Coach™ helps you channel that drive into building something yours.

The Layoff Survivor: You made it through this round, but you know your number is coming up. Your coach helps you prepare an exit on your terms, not theirs.

The Long-Term Unemployed: The system has rejected you, but you still have value. Over three-quarters of a million people lost their jobs — the highest rate in 15 years. People leaving or being forced out of the corporate world often turn to ownership as a second act (Forbes via FranchiseWire, 2025).

Your Choice: Stay Frozen or Break Free

Keep sending resumes into the void

Stay in a job that’s slowly killing your spirit

Wait for a recovery that isn’t coming

Or you can explore a different path. One where:

Your effort directly benefits you

Growth has no ceiling

Security comes from controlling your income source

The Great Freeze revealed what many suspected: the traditional career path no longer works. Companies won’t invest in you. They won’t fire you. But they won’t let you grow either. You’re trapped in career purgatory.

A Career Ownership Coach™ from The Entrepreneur’s Source® offers a way out. Not a guarantee – but a real alternative based on proven models, actual data, and thousands of successful transitions.

The freeze has paralyzed companies, workers, and job seekers. Nevertheless, it doesn’t have to paralyze you. While everyone else waits for someone to save them, you can save yourself. Your career is too important to leave to someone else. It’s time to take control.

Ready to break free from the freeze? Connect with a Career Ownership Coach™ from The Entrepreneur’s Source® to explore if business ownership aligns with your goals. Visit www.entrepreneurssource.com to start your journey.