BambooHR
Workforce Insights
Monthly Report – March 2025
Welcome to the March edition of the BambooHR Workforce Insights report, where we dive into the latest trends shaping the world of employment.
Workforce Insights is powered by aggregated data trends from the millions of admins, managers, and employees who use BambooHR in the US and across the globe.
After February Spike, Nonprofit Job Openings and Hires Drop in March
- In March, hiring increased across all industries, in contrast to last month when hiring decreased across the board.
- Notably, the construction and travel/hospitality industries saw the most significant increases in hiring.
- Globally and in the US, turnover decreased even further to 2020 levels.
- In North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, there was an increase in hiring, while North America and Asia Pacific also saw an increase in job openings.
- Review trends have stabilized both globally and within the United States.
- There was an increase in PTO requests during March.
- In the US, PTO requests and approvals mirrored global trends, showing an increase.
- The construction and education sectors have the highest PTO approval, despite having a low proportion of requests.
- North America and LATAM have the lowest number of PTO requests.
BambooHR’s platform data, sourced from over 4.96 million employee data points across the world, provides a global perspective on these evolving trends and offers valuable insights for organizations aiming to foster a culture of continuous improvement and engagement.
Hiring, Job Openings & Turnover
In March 2025, hiring and job openings increased, while job turnover continued to drop for the second month in a row.
Hiring
- In the US:
- 15% increase in hiring from February 2025 to March 2025.
- 5% decrease in hiring year-over-year from March 2024.
- Globally:
- 11% increase in hiring from February 2025 to March 2025.
- 7% decrease in hiring year-over-year from March 2024.
Job Openings
- In the US:
- 11% increase in job openings from February 2025 to March 2025.
- 15% increase in job openings year-over-year from March 2024.
- Globally:
- 10% increase in job openings from February 2025 to March 2025.
- 15% increase in job openings year-over-year from March 2024.
Turnover
- In the US:
- 4% decrease in turnover from February 2025 to March 2025.
- 20% decrease in turnover year-over-year from March 2024.
- Globally:
- 3% decrease in turnover from February 2025 to March 2025.
- 19% decrease in turnover year-over-year from March 2024.
Month-over-Month (MoM),
Year-over-Year (YoY)
Industry Trends: Hiring, Job Openings & Turnover
- All industries saw an increase in hiring from February to March, the opposite of what we saw last month when hiring decreased across every industry.
- Nonprofit, travel & hospitality, and healthcare had the highest proportion of job openings.
- Restaurant, food & beverage, technology, and education had the lowest proportion of hiring.
- Finance was the only sector to see a decrease in job openings (5%) from the previous month; every other sector saw an increase.
March 2025
Proportion of Total Employees
Regional Trends: Hiring, Job Openings & Turnover
- Middle East/Africa (MEA) and Asia Pacific have the lowest turnover.
- Latin America (LATAM), Asia Pacific, and Europe continue to be the lowest job posting regions.
- North America and LATAM have the highest percentage of hires in proportion to total employees, while MEA and Europe have the lowest proportion of hires.
- LATAM had the highest turnover.
Manager & Peer Reviews
Overall, reviews are up from last year at this time.
- In the US, peer reviews continued to fall in March, decreasing by 4% month-over-month but increasing 9% year-over-year.
- Manager reviews also dropped month-over-month, decreasing by 8%, but increasing 2% year-over-year.
- Overall, the combined peer and manager reviews in the US decreased by 5% month-over-month and increased 7% year-over-year.
- Globally, peer reviews also fell, with a 9% decrease month-over-month, but like in the US saw a year-over-year increase of 7%.
- Manager reviews saw an 11% decrease month-over-month but a 5% increase year-over-year.
- The overall trend globally in reviews decreased by 9% month-over-month but increased by 7% year-over-year.
Month-over-Month (MoM),
Year-over-Year (YoY)
Employee PTO Requests & Approvals
PTO requests and approvals increased in March from the previous month.
US PTO Requests:
- The proportion of employees requesting PTO increased by 3% month-over-month and decreased by 1% year-over-year.
- Approvals increased by 2% month-over-month and decreased by 6% year-over-year.
- In March 2025, US PTO requests were at 34%, with approvals at 17%.
Global PTO Requests:
- The proportion of total employees requesting PTO increased by 5% month-over-month and 3% year-over-year.
- Approvals increased by 1% month-over-month and decreased by 5% year-over-year.
- In March 2025, global PTO requests were at 42%, with approvals at 19%.
Regional Trends: Employee PTO Requests & Approvals
In March 2025, regional PTO requests and approvals continued to show distinct patterns:
- Europe: Similar to last month, March also saw the highest percentage of PTO requests (70%) but one of the lowest approval rates (39%).
- Asia Pacific: Had 38% of employees requesting PTO, with an approval rate of 47%.
- Middle East/Africa: Had 39% of employees requesting PTO, and the highest approval rate at 55%.
- North America: Had 36% of employees requesting PTO, with an approval rate of 49%, placing it in the middle for both metrics.
- Latin America: Had the lowest percentage of PTO requests at 27%, but the highest approval rate at 63%.
Industry Trends: Employee PTO Requests & Approvals
- Finance and nonprofit continued to have the highest PTO requests at 54% and 53% respectively, despite having lower proportions of PTO approvals.
- The restaurant, food, and beverage industry had the lowest approvals at 19%, the only industry to fall below 40%.
- Construction and travel/hospitality had the lowest PTO requested; construction, as usual, had the highest percent approved at 54%.
Methodology
All source data is from the BambooHR® platform, gathered between March 2018 and March 2025, and includes over 4.96 million employee data points across the globe.
The data includes employee and manager performance scores, PTO requests, and other data points that have been analyzed in an aggregated, anonymized way to protect the privacy of employees and the integrity of the metrics.
Turnover includes all types of separation of an employee from their company, including voluntary and involuntary separations.
About BambooHR
BambooHR® is the leading HR software solution that sets people free to do great work by managing the complex work of supporting employees and succeeding as a business, while giving leaders all the data they need to make informed strategic decisions.
Intuitively designed and easy-to-use benefits administration, payroll, performance, time tracking, and reporting where everything works together means less focus on process and more focus on growing what matters most—people.
Over the past 15 years, BambooHR has been the trusted partner of HR professionals at 33 thousand companies with employees in over 190 countries and 50 industries, supporting millions of users throughout their employee experience.
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