White-collar workers are heading into 2026 with growing unease as layoffs, slower hiring and rapid advances in artificial intelligence reshape the professional job market, The Wall Street Journal reports. While unemployment among college educated workers remains relatively low, it has crept higher over the past year, and confidence is slipping. Workers now see a greater chance of losing their jobs—and a much lower likelihood of quickly finding new ones—than they did just a few years ago. The shift marks a sharp reversal from the post-pandemic boom, when office workers commanded raises, promotions and flexibility. Today, major employers are trimming white-collar roles, job postings in fields like software and marketing remain well below pre-pandemic levels and hiring processes are stretching out for months. Executives are also openly warning that AI could replace large portions of professional work, adding to the anxiety. For many workers, the result is a growing sense of precarity, even among those still employed and earning well, as they cling to stability in an increasingly unforgiving labor market. Read more from The Wall Street Journal. ...read more read less