America This Week Wave 250

The Great Pause in Hiring, How Politics Fractures Families, Company Caring Scores Decline, and Runaway Impulse Spending.

The latest trends in society and culture from The Harris Poll

Good afternoon from New York. 

We get punchy at the end of the year, and that’s when the fun polls come out. Witness our new poll with Zillow, which asks who your dream celebrity roommate would be. Americans chose Ryan Reynolds, followed by Taylor Swift, Zendaya, and Beyoncé. 

We have four new stories this week:

• Job seekers feel like their applications are falling into the abyss, never to be seen again.
• My co-CEO, Will Johnson, details the politics clouding holiday plans in his latest op-ed. 
• Companies need to do more to get more personal with their employees. 
• And impulse shopping is out of hand for many Americans. 

The Great Pause: American Staffing Association-Harris Poll

Today’s job-seekers are navigating a particularly trying hiring market, as our new study with the American Staffing Association covered by Fortune shows.

• Applications feel like a waste of time: Nearly three in four (72%) American job seekers say that “applying for jobs feels like sending a resume into a black box.”
• Facing a cold market: Most job seekers (42%) report applying to ten or more positions within the year. 
• Yet, two in five (40%) unemployed job seekers report having to have a single job interview this year. 
• Even with all this, almost half of the workforce (45%) reports being likely to look for a new job in the new year. 

Takeaway: “While The Great Resignation saw employers scrambling to hire qualified workers, the tables have turned, and now many job seekers are in The Great Pause, struggling to get hired. Businesses didn’t want to lose out on top workers when so much top talent was resigning, so they hired more workers than needed,” American Staffing Association CEO Richard Wahlquist told Fortune. Watch this stat as the new administration takes hold in January, inflation takes a modest uptick, and tariffs are planned for many sectors. 

Politically Fractured Families: USA Today-Harris Poll

This year’s election split voters down the middle. As the nation sets the table for the winter holidays, it’s doing the same thing to families, as detailed by my co-CEO Will Johnson’s latest op-ed with psychologist Joshua Coleman in USA Today. 

• Today, one in two (52%) Americans are estranged from a close relative, with about two in five (42%) attributing the estrangement to political differences. 
• Of those estranged over politics, almost half (46%) say the break occurred within the past year, with (14%) saying it happened in the past month. 
• There’s not much difference in the frequency of estrangement by political beliefs or party affiliation, with liberals (21%) and conservatives (20%) experiencing it slightly more often than moderates (14%).
• It’s not just estranged families affected: (36%) have felt uncomfortable at a family gathering over the past year due to a relative’s political beliefs.
• We even found with the APA that (72%) of Americans hope to avoid discussing politics with family over the holidays, with (39%) stressed by the thought of politics coming up at holiday gatherings. 

Takeaway: “As a psychologist specializing in family estrangement and a national public opinion researcher, we’ve been detecting a rise in affective polarization for a while, with once-close families and friends limiting or ending contact over politics,” details Coleman. “Political affiliation has become the most significant factor in determining whom people choose to connect with or exclude, surpassing religion, race, ethnicity, gender, and other common fault lines.”

Employees Want Caring Companies: Integral-Harris Poll

This year, with Integral and highlighted in Forbes, we explore the inflection point shaping businesses in 2025, where employees demand more from their companies.

• Whose hands is your career in? Half or less of non-managers feel in control of their career’s success at their organization (53% v. senior leaders: 84%, middle managers: 69%) or that there is transparent communication regarding their career path (43% v. 84% v. 64%). 
• The growing DEI gap: While (79%) of senior leaders say their organization has implemented DEI programs in the last few years, it drops to just (53%) of non-managerial employees.
• Employees want their companies to get personal: Asked what they wanted their organizations to make positive differences on most, the top three issues were employee health and well-being (45%), job creation (29%), and income inequality within the company (24%).  

Takeaway: “The forces reshaping our organizations are broader than ever—from remote work dynamics to the growing role of artificial intelligence in our daily tasks. But no matter the trends, a core truth remains: Employee experience is the cornerstone of any thriving company,” writes Ethan McCarty, Integral CEO. “2025 will demand more intentional leadership, more human-centered cultures, and more profound trust between employees and employers.”

Impulse Spending Soars: NerdWallet-Harris Poll

Gone are when impulse buying meant grabbing an unplanned candy bar or magazine in the checkout line. Social media allows us to buy almost anything with just a click – regardless of budget. This convenience is hurting some Americans financially, according to our latest study with NerdWallet. 

• The pain of impulsivity: Over a fifth (22%) of Americans have made impulse purchases that significantly impacted their finances in the last year.  
• Around one in six (16%) even say they spent more on impulse purchases than retirement saving contributions most months over the past year. 
• Live now, spend now: Our Axios/HarrisPoll Vibes research found about (40%) of younger consumers feeling financially squeezed primarily attribute it to their excessive spending on non-essentials.
• But the regret catches up: A previous NerdWallet-HP poll found (69%) of Americans have financial regrets for 2024.  

Takeaway: Our research found that impulse buying often tracks national anxiety, which is growing. Today, there is very little friction between deciding you want something and being able to acquire it. One-click ordering and fast, free shipping means you can have what you want in days, if not hours, without ever leaving your home. But what if you spend time between wanting something and buying it to see if the appeal wears off?