$20K pay cuts, lower titles, odd jobs: Workers are making big trade-offs to find meaningful work in today’s job market

Seri Thompson has been on the job market for eight months. In that time, she’s applied to over 180 jobs.

Some of them are related to her new communications degree, like for social media or marketing jobs. Lately she’s also applied to jobs unrelated to her field, like assistant or retail positions.

In the meantime, she has a part-time internship with a local San Diego bakery and keeps a steady rotation of babysitting, pet-sitting, house-sitting and other odd jobs to pay her bills.

Thompson, 22, graduated from college in December 2024 and is pragmatic about her job search, but still finds it frustratingly slow.

“The perfect job doesn’t exist,” she tells CNBC Make It. She says her parents taught her to recognize that “once you get that first job, it’s just a stepping stone for the rest of your career.”

“But it’s hard being invested in something that you’re not super interested in, or settling, for a job to pay your bills,” she says. “I feel like with my generation, people want to be really invested in what they are doing and like the work that they are doing.”

While Thompson would like a meaningful job — which she defines as being with a supportive company that prizes employee well-being and development — she knows she may not get that right now.

As it turns out, in today’s challenging job market, finding meaningful work is becoming a luxury not everyone can afford.

Most workers say it’s important to them that they do meaningful work in their jobs, according to a July survey of over 1,200 American adults from UserTesting, the survey platform. Respondents defined meaningful work on a personal level, as in one that allows them balance and flexibility, followed by external factors like making a social or environmental impact and helping others.

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But financial and economic concerns are becoming a bigger factor in what they prioritize in their jobs.

A majority, 85%, of Americans say economic uncertainty has changed what they value most in a job, with the bulk of them now prioritizing stability, salary and flexibility.

The current market is leading people to stay in unfulfilling jobs and avoid switching industries, according to survey data. And roughly 1 in 3 people said they would give up their dream job in exchange for one with more career stability.

That’s how Thompson is trying to approach the situation.

“I’m just trying to keep my chin up and have grace for myself, knowing that it’s like a really tough market right now,” Thompson says. “I’m just in this waiting period.”

While a majority, 62%, of respondents from the UserTesting survey say they’re somewhat or very optimistic about their job search, about 23% are pessimistic. Roughly 1 in 4 job-seekers say they’re experiencing burnout or mental health issues on the search, and 16% say ageism is an obstacle.

Bruce Bennett has applied to “well over 100” jobs and says the process has taken a mental toll.

“I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t even really read the job description,” says Bennett, 62, an HR professional in San Francisco. “I only look for certain keywords, like, what is the job title? What is the [HR] platform that they’re using?”

He often sees online listings with over 100 applicants, at one point seeing a company post that they’d received over 1,000 submissions to one opening.

“It’s a crap shoot,” Bennett says. “I know 99% of the time I’m going to get rejected.”

Bennett was laid off from his last job in October 2024 following a company selloff. The current job market feels similar to, if not worse, than the 2000s-era dot com bubble burst, he says.

Bennett says he’s never been the type of professional to take any job for the sake of more money or a flashier title. But he does want to work for a company that he feels makes a positive impact, and one that has a diverse executive team.

It’s challenging to hold onto those values in the current climate, though. “If I find something, great,” he says. “If I don’t, I’m basically looking into forced retirement.”

Bennett feels his age plays a role in moving through interviews, typically when the hiring team asks questions to gauge so-called culture fit, he says, or sees that his resume is two pages long (though he has experience he no longer includes to keep it shorter).

Bennett believes having options in today’s job market, let alone finding meaningful work, is a luxury. “I don’t think you necessarily have a choice on being that picky,” he says, noting that finding a well-aligned job often comes down to your network and what jobs are available.

These days, he’s found an outlet that brings him both joy and a little extra income: About nine years ago, Bennett began volunteering as a walking tour guide around San Francisco; more recently, he launched his own paid tour offerings.

His husband’s job supports their main living expenses, but Bennett’s new venture helps “bring in some money and at least put[s] food on our table.”

“It’s not a lot of money,” he adds, “but it’s something that at least makes me happy, helping my own mental state, and helps people around the city. I think that’s far greater than anything I’ve ever done.”

Some workers are realizing that to hang onto what they value most in their jobs, they’ll have to make concessions.

Jill Di Benedetto, 42, is an art director in Miami. She’s been on the job market for five months after her last contract ended, and another two she had lined up both cut their budgets and eliminated jobs before she started.

She’s applied to at least 70 jobs but stopped keeping track and describes her search experience as “volatile.”

“I’m pretty staunch on what I look for,” Di Benedetto says, noting that doing meaningful work to her means working with a good team and reaching a customer and “changing someone’s life.”

But she’s had to come to terms that she’ll likely earn a much lower salary in her next role. Di Benedetto says many of the openings she’s fielded offer a salary at least $20,000 lower than her last one.

Further, “I don’t care what my title is,” she says. “That has gone out the window. I just want to work with great people and be paid my worth.”

She stays grounded with lessons she’s learned from former colleagues who’ve shaped how she views her career.

“The people that I’ve gravitated towards the most have taught me that your career is not always linear,” Di Benedetto says. “Sometimes it’s all over the place, and it doesn’t have to be what everyone else thinks it should be. It’s a personal journey.”

Even in a tough market, some workers are opting to take their careers into their own hands and make big changes, knowing that the process could take some time.

Kaleah Mcilwain, 28, is a digital editor in Philadelphia. She quit her last job in media eight months ago in search of something more aligned with the kind of impact she wants to make in her audience development work.

It’s her third time on the job market since graduating from college, and the most competition she’s ever experienced.

In a sea of qualified applicants, she’s learned that “if you do not meet the requirements 100%, unfortunately, this is just not the job market to be applying to jobs where you’re reaching,” she says.

She also thinks meaningful work is a luxury. She’s seen peers take pay cuts or shift careers in order to pay the bills. But it’s a luxury she’s positioned herself to continue striving for.

“I was fully aware that I may not find a job in three months, or however long, and I am very solidified around these are the things I want, so I’m not budging on them. And that is a luxury I can have, because I did choose to leave my own job.”

Mcilwain says she lives with a roommate and spent time building up her savings in order to quit without a job lined up. So far, Mcilwain says she’s applied to three or four dozen roles and has been supplementing her income with freelance work. “I am committed to it just taking however long it takes at the moment,” she says.

Mcilwain says she’s steadfast in her goals. “I’ve had to ask myself the question, ‘Will I change my career paths?’ And the answer is, ‘No, I won’t.’ I’m going to just wait until I find the job that I want.”

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