With the labor market cooling, experts have said that now is the best time for employers to invest in their existing employees . The only problem is that companies aren’t actually doing that.

That’s according to recent research from Workday . Despite a modest increase in hiring demand in the first half of this year, internal hiring and promotion rates have actually fallen.

Hiring demand was up 6% year-over-year in the first half of 2025, down slightly from the 7% YoY increase in the first half of 2024, according to Workday’s internal data and external surveys.

However, internal hiring fell 8% YoY, and only 30% of all hires in June were internal. Additionally, promotion rates fell in 10 of the 11 industries tracked by Workday; manufacturing was the only one to see an increase in pr

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