Two-thirds of American workers say they are somewhat or very confident about their job security at this time, but the other third are living with fear of being out of work, potentially leaving them financially exposed.
Of that group -- including 53% of households earning less than $50,000 a year -- 35% have already delayed making a major purchase like a car or home and nine percent have given up the idea altogether. But even among relatively affluent individuals earning $100,000 or more, 35% have delayed or canceled plans to make big purchases, according to a nationwide Redfin survey of 1,142 working Americans conducted by Ipsos in mid-August.
The ripples are reaching the residential real estate market in an uncertain economy at a time of growing concern that AI and other new technologies will eliminate jobs.
“From a housing perspective, that wariness is keeping some would-be homebuyers on the sidelines. On the flipside, those who feel confident in their finances are facing less competition and have more negotiating power,” said Redfin head of economics research Chen Zhao. In this market, making pricing a home competitively and allowing more flexible terms would be critical, she added.
Some 29% of respondents said they had already made or would make big purchases earlier than planned, perhaps to beat the introduction of tariffs. The group seemingly least likely to give up on major purchases was individuals aged 55 or older; 48% of them said job security would not impact their decisions, compared to 21% of under 34s and 31% of 35-54 year olds. Almost half (49%) of working renters are holding back on big buys compared to 27% of working homeowners.
Even among workers who say they are confident about their job security, 19% are more concerned than they were six months ago, while 30% are a little or a lot more confident. And the share who were already concerned has now risen to 77%.
The results also demonstrate how workers are internalizing the impacts of shifting government policies, perhaps not surprising in view of the thousands of layoffs in key federal departments and the elimination of programs that have fallen out of favor. The effect of government restructuring on jobs was the primary concern of 6% of all workers and the loss of government funding or contracts accounted for an additional 7%.
A third of workers worried about how their own company’s performance could affect their job security. The impacts of tariffs (17%) and the adoption of AI (16%) on job security were also common. Only 8% thought their performance might be a factor.
Job loss is not the only thing the real estate sector has to worry about. The reality that 36% of American workers do not have an emergency fund to cover housing costs like mortgage or rent is also troubling. Households earning more than $100,000 a year (68%) or who were homeowners (65%) were more likely to have such a piggy bank. But those earning $50,000 or less (37%), renters (40%) and young people aged 18-34 were more exposed and for many with some sort of emergency fund, it would last less than 12 months. For a third, savings would last less than three months. Experts recommend a cushion to cover three-to-six months of expenses.
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