--- title: Top Trends from Zywave’s 2025 State of the Market Survey description: The top five challenges facing employers in 2025 include economic uncertainty, rising health care costs, compliance demands, and ongoing talent retention struggles. image: https://blog.nisbenefits.com/hubfs/blog-headers/zywave-trends-b.jpg --- ![image of graph mapping trends](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/hubfs/blog-headers/zywave-trends-b.jpg) # Top Trends from Zywave’s 2025 State of the Market Survey - Home - [Employee Benefit News for School, City and County Employers](https://blog.nisbenefits.com) - Top Trends from Zywave’s 2025 State of the Market Survey [ Erin Woulfe ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/author/erin-woulfe) 07/01/2025 [ Health Insurance Solutions](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/health-insurance-solutions), [ Ancillary Benefits](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/ancillary-benefits), [ Legislative News](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/aca-other-legislative-news), [ The Administrator's Corner](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/the-administrators-corner) [0 Comments ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/zywave-2025-state-of-the-market-survey-trends#postComment) 1 Minutes In April 2025, Zywave surveyed over 1,000 small and mid-sized employers across the U.S. The survey focused on the economic climate, workplace challenges, and emerging workforce strategies. Here are five key employer challenges identified in the survey.   ## **Economic Uncertainty Is the Top Concern** Nearly 60% of employers cite economic uncertainty as a top concern, driven by policy shifts, inflation, trade disruptions, and sector layoffs. This uncertainty is causing organizations to plan and spend cautiously.   ## **Inflation and Rising Health Care Costs Are Straining Budgets** Inflation and rising health care costs remain top concerns for employers in 2025. With health care expenses expected to increase 7–8%, many organizations are shifting more costs to employees, reevaluating plans, and emphasizing employee education to manage benefits costs.   ## **Compliance Challenges Are Growing** With ongoing regulatory changes, 26.7% of employers name compliance as a top challenge, citing new federal laws, increased enforcement, evolving DEI policies, and immigration requirements. Employers are staying informed and agile to address these demands.   ## **Attraction and Retention Challenges Persist** While the labor market has stabilized, nearly 60% of employers still struggle to attract and retain talent—a trend expected to continue in 2025. To address this, employers are prioritizing employee engagement, increasing compensation, expanding development opportunities, enhancing onboarding, and adopting skills-based hiring.   ## **Employers Are Focusing on Strategic Workforce Planning to Win and Keep Talent** Talent attraction and retention now rank behind inflation, healthcare costs, and tariffs as top challenges. Most employers remain optimistic, with 76.6% hiring in the past six months and aligning workforce strategies with long-term goals. Organizations that emphasize efficiency, engagement, and adaptability are better positioned for success.   ## **Conclusion** The 2025 State of the Market Survey reveals that employers face challenges like economic uncertainty, inflation, compliance, and talent management. Staying informed and agile is essential for ongoing success. Download the [bulletin](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/hubfs/blog-supporting-docs/bulleetin-zywave-state-market-survey.pdf) for more details. [![2025 IRS Contribution Limits](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/3325505/c594fe9c-84d8-448c-9225-3da939d6081a.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/3325505/c594fe9c-84d8-448c-9225-3da939d6081a) --- #### Tag: [ Health Insurance Solutions](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/health-insurance-solutions) [ Ancillary Benefits](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/ancillary-benefits) [ Legislative News](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/aca-other-legislative-news) [ The Administrator's Corner](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/the-administrators-corner) #### Share: - [Follow us on Facebook ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.nisbenefits.com/zywave-2025-state-of-the-market-survey-trends) - [Follow us on Twitter ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://blog.nisbenefits.com/zywave-2025-state-of-the-market-survey-trends&text=Top%20Trends%20from%20Zywave’s%202025%20State%20of%20the%20Market%20Survey) - [Follow us on Linkedin ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.nisbenefits.com/zywave-2025-state-of-the-market-survey-trends) - [Follow us on Pinterest ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://blog.nisbenefits.com/zywave-2025-state-of-the-market-survey-trends&text=Top%20Trends%20from%20Zywave’s%202025%20State%20of%20the%20Market%20Surveydescription=In%20April%202025,%20Zywave%20surveyed%20over%201,000%20small%20and%20mid-sized%20employers%20across%20the%20U.S.%20The%20survey%20focused%20on%20the%20economic%20climate,%20workplace%20challenges,%20and[...]&media=https://3325505.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/3325505/blog-headers/zywave-trends-b.jpg) --- [ #### Navigating Health Plan Transparency: Employer Responsibilities ##### Previous Post ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/navigating-health-plan-transparency-employer-responsibilities) [#### New Initiative Aims to Cut Red Tape in Prior Authorization ##### Next Post ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/new-initiative-cut-red-tape-prior-authorization) ### Leave a Reply This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ### Category - [Legislative News (1149)](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/aca-other-legislative-news) - [Health Insurance Solutions (504)](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/health-insurance-solutions) - [COVID-19 (209)](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/covid-19) - [Ancillary Benefits (175)](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/ancillary-benefits) - [Mental Health (122)](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/mental-health) ### Popular Posts [ Steve Smith ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/author/steve-smith) 02/16/2024 [ Health Insurance Solutions](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/health-insurance-solutions) [ Understanding Embedded vs. Nonembedded Deductibles ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/understanding-embedded-nonembedded-deductibles) [ Erin Woulfe ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/author/erin-woulfe) 02/09/2026 [ Health Insurance Solutions](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/health-insurance-solutions), [ Legislative News](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/aca-other-legislative-news) [ IRS Releases 2027 Health Plan Cost-sharing Limits ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/2027-health-plan-cost-sharing-limits) [ Valerie Ortiz ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/author/valerie-ortiz) 02/17/2026 [ Health Insurance Solutions](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/health-insurance-solutions), [ The Administrator's Corner](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/the-administrators-corner) [ 4 Employee Wellness Trends You Can’t Ignore in 2026 ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/2026-employee-wellness-trends) [ Dina Lubben ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/author/dina-lubben) 11/14/2025 [ Health Insurance Solutions](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/health-insurance-solutions), [ Legislative News](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/aca-other-legislative-news) [ Trump Administration Unveils Plan to Make GLP-1 Drugs Affordable ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/trump-administration-plan-glp1-drugs-affordable) --- ## Related Posts [ Health Insurance Solutions](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/health-insurance-solutions), [ Legislative News](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/aca-other-legislative-news), [ The Administrator's Corner](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/the-administrators-corner) [ Valerie Ortiz ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/author/valerie-ortiz) 07 July, 2026 #### [New CMS Report: Healthcare Spending Trends Through 2034](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/healthcare-spending-trends-through-2034) New projections from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the… [Read More](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/healthcare-spending-trends-through-2034) [ Legislative News](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/aca-other-legislative-news), [ The Administrator's Corner](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/the-administrators-corner), [ Mental Health](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/mental-health) [ Steve Smith ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/author/steve-smith) 06 July, 2026 #### [New HHS Rule Expands Catastrophic Coverage Access](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/new-hhs-rule-expands-catastrophic-coverage-access) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters… [Read More](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/new-hhs-rule-expands-catastrophic-coverage-access) [ The Administrator's Corner](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/the-administrators-corner) [ Brenden Lord ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/author/brenden-lord) 02 July, 2026 #### [How to Overcome Summer Workforce Challenges](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/overcome-summer-workforce-challenges) Summer can drive growth for small businesses but also strain operations with higher demand,… [Read More](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/overcome-summer-workforce-challenges)