New York and New Jersey Stats: What Workplace Data Says, Regionally

Every year, TriNet surveys employers and employees across the country to understand what's happening inside businesses. Not what the headlines say, but what the people running teams and working in them are genuinely experiencing. This year, we went deeper. For the first time, the 2025 State of Work report includes regional breakdowns across seven distinct markets in the United States. We're releasing them one at a time, and this installment turns to New York and New Jersey.

The 2025 State of Work: New York and New Jersey draws from a survey of 69 employers and 75 employees across the region. It covers six themes: how and where people work, AI adoption, skills development, compensation, engagement, and talent mobility.

In each area, we compare what employers believe against what employees actually report. What emerges is a picture of a region operating at high intensity, with meaningful gaps between what employers perceive and what employees are actually experiencing.

One finding stands out above the rest.

New York and New Jersey employees report working significantly more hours than their employers estimate: 41.4% work 41+ hours per week, while employers estimate only 23% do. That's an 18-point blind spot — and it's where burnout conversations break down.

The mobility numbers raise the stakes further.

41% of New York and New Jersey employees plan to switch jobs within a year. 57.4% of employers believe 25% or fewer of their employees are looking — a meaningful underestimate of a workforce that is far more mobile than it appears.

What makes the NY/NJ data worth reading carefully is the tension at the center of it. Engagement is genuinely high — 52% of employees describe themselves as extremely engaged. But 1 in 4 plans to leave within three months. They're not checked out. Many of them are actively looking while still showing up fully. That combination tells a specific story: engaged doesn't mean retained. Employees in this region are ambitious and mobile, and the employers keeping their best people aren't winning on culture alone.

They're winning on infrastructure. Benefits access. HR support. Growth pathways that are communicated clearly, not just assumed to exist. In a region where 65.2% of employers anticipate significant skill transformation ahead, the businesses investing in their people's development now are the ones building workforces that may be more likely to stay over time.

The report isn't a verdict on how New York and New Jersey employers are doing. Most of the businesses reflected in this data are doing a lot of things well. What it offers is visibility. A clearer picture of where the gaps are showing up, what employees in this region actually value, and where the opportunity sits for employers who want to stay ahead of it.

TriNet works with businesses across New York and New Jersey to help them address exactly these kinds of gaps, through big company benefits access, HR administration supported by real people, and dedicated expertise that understands what it means to operate in this market.

The 2025 State of Work: New York and New Jersey is available now. Download it free and see where the data lands for your business.

This is part of a series of seven regional reports. We've already released the Southeast and California, and over the coming months we'll be sharing findings from the Greater West, the Mid-Atlantic, the Southern Central region, and the Great Lakes and New England. Each one tells a different story. We'll be publishing a post like this one each time a new report drops.

→  Download the 2025 State of Work: New York and New Jersey

→  Talk to a TriNet HR expert about what the data means for your business