As a career counselor, I work with job hunters every day. I pay close attention to what they say and what they are experiencing in the job market. I notice what industries are hiring, which job titles more employers are advertising, and how many openings we see are the right fit for a candidate to apply for. I’ve been observing that many areas now offer fewer opportunities.

One group I’ve noticed that has had a struggle with landing a job is mature workers. Professionals over 55, especially those who have been hard hit with layoffs, report that there is little to apply for and a lot of competition. Most say their age is a problem hampering them from finding a job. Those over 60 have had a real struggle to find new employment.

The technology industry has been hard hit with limited hiring and plenty of layoffs. New college grads face a tough search because entry-level roles have been harder to find. Some grads have been looking for a year, and they are getting very little employer attention, only rejections. Lacking an internship has been a real deficit for many grads, as employers want that experience.

Much to the disappointment of people insisting they want remote work; the tides have changed. Employers are now in the driver’s seat, insisting on hybrid in-office work. Amazon told employees that they are implementing a “5 days a week Return-to-Office” policy.

Aside from the typical summer slowdown, hiring is not picking up now. A notable change in hiring has blanketed the country. Job hunters feel it, employers know it, and career counselors and HR people are acknowledging it. From our view of the world, those of us in the trenches dealing with hiring and job search, we see these key factors interacting together and impacting the job market.

1. The Election. Employers are pausing and waiting to see which way the country will go for the next four years. Democrats will head in a different direction than Republicans. So, many companies want to know the answer before they invest in new employees or promote existing employees.

2. Holidays. From mid-November through early January, hiring will be very slow as employers deal with holiday vacations, reassess their staffing needs, and try to do more with fewer people.

3. AI technology impacts. Most organizations are considering how AI might impact their company and employee productivity and are slowing down to determine their needs. They are questioning how using new AI technology in their office may change who they need to hire and the type of skills that a person needs to have.

4. Layoffs. These will continue. No one is immune. Many different roles have disappeared across the entire work spectrum.

5. Stay-put Employees. Layoffs have scared people into holding onto their positions. They worry about stability and aren’t moving on, which reduces the opportunities for someone else to take over their job.

6. Employers are cherry-picking. They are in no hurry to find — or hire — new staff. Even when a candidate’s background completely matches the job description, some report that they may be interviewing but aren’t getting a job offer.

7. Hybrid work. Nothing has reduced job opportunities as much as this change has. Job seekers must look for positions where they live, and most employers are not paying to relocate them.

8. Fewer recruiters. As the job market changed, recruiters were hard-hit, with heavy layoffs as employers responded to the new job market conditions. This means fewer HR recruiters are scouring LinkedIn looking for talent. People who often got “hit up” on LinkedIn to consider a new job have found that this has happened much less frequently or stopped altogether.

Hannah Morgan, one of the country’s top job search strategists also agrees that job seekers are having more difficulty finding employment. Morgan said, “Some of these factors mentioned above are expected to tweak hiring, such as the election or holidays. Normally, they will have an impact. But with all eight things happening simultaneously, that is what has made job search so challenging.”

But, in any economy, there are always good jobs to be found and landed. Morgan offers some tactical ways to manage your search process now.