HÜNT · Monthly hiring report
Who's hiring: December 2025 hiring report
We ranked 475 US employers by hiring pace in December 2025, from real job changes in résumé histories. Tyler Technologies sped up the most, +9 pts in its hiring percentile in a month, while Celanese slowed the most, -58 pts. Over 12 months, ConocoPhillips gained the most: +72 pts.
Key takeaways
- Tyler Technologies and Pioneer Natural Resources led December acceleration at +9 pts, while Celanese slowed by -58 pts.
- 183 employers sped up and 171 slowed among 475 ranked employers in December 2025.
- ConocoPhillips led 12-month gains at +72 pts, followed by Exelon at +69 pts.
- Software engineering represented 22.0% of hires, despite a -0.6 pts 12-month share change.
- Real Estate had a 77th median hiring percentile, while Consumer Discretionary had a 39th median percentile.
Sped up hiring in December 2025
Tyler Technologies and Pioneer Natural Resources led the 10-company list at +9 pts, followed by Pinnacle West Capital at +8 pts. The list covered 7 sectors: Information Technology, Utilities, and Consumer Discretionary each supplied 2 of 10 companies, while Energy, Consumer Staples, Real Estate, and unclassified supplied 1 of 10. Current percentiles ranged from 39th to 81st.
Change in hiring percentile from Nov 2025 to Dec 2025.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 1 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyler Technologies | Information Technology | +9 pts | 74th |
| 2 | Pioneer Natural Resources | — | +9 pts | 39th |
| 3 | Pinnacle West Capital | Utilities | +8 pts | 58th |
| 4 | DoorDash | Consumer Discretionary | +7 pts | 64th |
| 5 | PTC | Information Technology | +7 pts | 56th |
| 6 | Phillips 66 | Energy | +7 pts | 67th |
| 7 | Dollar Tree | Consumer Staples | +7 pts | 75th |
| 8 | MGM Resorts | Consumer Discretionary | +7 pts | 81st |
| 9 | Weyerhaeuser | Real Estate | +7 pts | 72nd |
| 10 | Edison International | Utilities | +6 pts | 61st |
Slowed hiring in December 2025
Celanese led the 10-company slowdown list at -58 pts, well ahead of Intuitive Surgical at -14 pts and HP at -13 pts. The moves were concentrated across 5 sectors: Health Care supplied 3 of 10 companies, while Materials, unclassified, and Energy each supplied 2 of 10; Information Technology supplied 1 of 10. Current percentiles ranged from 19th to 83rd.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 1 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celanese | Materials | -58 pts | 19th |
| 2 | Intuitive Surgical | Health Care | -14 pts | 53rd |
| 3 | HP | Information Technology | -13 pts | 31st |
| 4 | Air Products | Materials | -10 pts | 40th |
| 5 | U.S. Steel | — | -7 pts | 23rd |
| 6 | Dun & Bradstreet | — | -6 pts | 55th |
| 7 | Noble Corporation | Energy | -6 pts | 83rd |
| 8 | Steris | Health Care | -6 pts | 39th |
| 9 | Devon Energy | Energy | -6 pts | 50th |
| 10 | Eli Lilly | Health Care | -6 pts | 65th |
Biggest gains over 12 months
ConocoPhillips led 12-month gains at +72 pts, followed by Exelon at +69 pts and Diamond Offshore at +63 pts. The 10 companies represented 7 sectors, with Energy, Industrials, and Consumer Discretionary each contributing 2 of 10; Utilities, unclassified, Information Technology, and Financials each contributed 1 of 10. Current percentiles ranged from 41st to 90th.
Change in hiring percentile from Dec 2024 to Dec 2025.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 12 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ConocoPhillips | Energy | +72 pts | 88th |
| 2 | Exelon | Utilities | +69 pts | 90th |
| 3 | Diamond Offshore | — | +63 pts | 79th |
| 4 | Fair Isaac | Information Technology | +45 pts | 80th |
| 5 | Honeywell Aerospace | Industrials | +39 pts | 80th |
| 6 | Robinhood Markets | Financials | +32 pts | 41st |
| 7 | eBay | Consumer Discretionary | +30 pts | 61st |
| 8 | Cintas | Industrials | +30 pts | 63rd |
| 9 | Phillips 66 | Energy | +30 pts | 67th |
| 10 | H&R Block | Consumer Discretionary | +28 pts | 83rd |
Biggest drops over 12 months
Celanese led 12-month declines at -64 pts, followed by AES at -57 pts and Air Products at -52 pts. The 10 companies spanned 7 sectors, with Materials, Communication Services, and Health Care each contributing 2 of 10; Utilities, unclassified, Industrials, and Information Technology each contributed 1 of 10. Current percentiles ranged from 12th to 52nd.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 12 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celanese | Materials | -64 pts | 19th |
| 2 | AES | Utilities | -57 pts | 18th |
| 3 | Air Products | Materials | -52 pts | 40th |
| 4 | Warner Bros. Discovery | Communication Services | -48 pts | 41st |
| 5 | Paramount Skydance | Communication Services | -44 pts | 12th |
| 6 | Fannie Mae | — | -43 pts | 22nd |
| 7 | Southwest Airlines | Industrials | -41 pts | 52nd |
| 8 | Steris | Health Care | -38 pts | 39th |
| 9 | NXP Semiconductors | Information Technology | -37 pts | 44th |
| 10 | Illumina | Health Care | -37 pts | 21st |
By sector
Real Estate had the highest median hiring percentile at 77th, while Consumer Discretionary had the lowest at 39th. Median hiring rose in 3 sectors—Utilities, Financials, and Communication Services—and fell in 6, including Materials at -6 pts, Consumer Discretionary at -4 pts, and Energy and Information Technology at -3 pts each. Financials had 60 employers, Information Technology 66, and Industrials 70.
| Sector | Employers | Median percentile | Median change, 12 mo | Fastest hirer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Estate | 14 | 77th | -1 pt | Digital Realty (90th) |
| Utilities | 12 | 58th | +1 pt | Exelon (90th) |
| Financials | 60 | 58th | +3 pts | Nasdaq (97th) |
| Energy | 17 | 57th | -3 pts | Murphy Oil (96th) |
| Materials | 17 | 56th | -6 pts | Smurfit Westrock (100th) |
| Information Technology | 66 | 53rd | -3 pts | NVIDIA (99th) |
| Industrials | 70 | 53rd | unchanged | GE Vernova (99th) |
| Consumer Staples | 29 | 51st | unchanged | Kenvue (100th) |
| Health Care | 55 | 48th | -1 pt | Cencora (99th) |
| Communication Services | 22 | 41st | +1 pt | Trade Desk (91st) |
| Consumer Discretionary | 59 | 39th | -4 pts | Deckers Brands (87th) |
Sectors with at least 5 employers in the report.
By role
Software engineering remained the largest listed role family at 22.0% of hires, despite a -0.6 pts 12-month share change. Share rose in 4 role families—Sales, Executive leadership, Data & machine learning, and Marketing—and fell in 5, including Operations & manufacturing, Consulting, HR & recruiting, and Customer support. Data & machine learning rose +0.6 pts, while Sales rose +0.5 pts.
| Role family | Share of US hires | Change, 12 mo |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineering | 22.0% | -0.6 pts |
| Operations & Manufacturing | 9.9% | -0.4 pts |
| Sales | 7.0% | +0.5 pts |
| Finance | 4.4% | unchanged |
| Executive Leadership | 4.3% | +0.3 pts |
| Consulting | 4.0% | -0.2 pts |
| Data & Machine Learning | 3.6% | +0.6 pts |
| HR & Recruiting | 3.1% | -0.3 pts |
| Marketing | 3.1% | +0.1 pts |
| Product Management | 2.0% | unchanged |
| Customer Support | 1.7% | -0.1 pts |
| Design | 1.6% | unchanged |
| Research | 1.2% | unchanged |
| Legal & Compliance | 1.0% | unchanged |
| Medical | 0.5% | unchanged |
Share of all hires observed at US panel employers, 36-month window ending December 2025.
Questions and answers
Which US companies sped up hiring the most in December 2025?
By change in hiring percentile over one month: Tyler Technologies (+9 pts, now in the 74th percentile), Pioneer Natural Resources (+9 pts, now in the 39th percentile) and Pinnacle West Capital (+8 pts, now in the 58th percentile).
Which US companies slowed hiring the most in December 2025?
By change in hiring percentile over one month: Celanese (-58 pts, now in the 19th percentile), Intuitive Surgical (-14 pts, now in the 53rd percentile) and HP (-13 pts, now in the 31st percentile).
Which companies gained the most hiring momentum over the 12 months to December 2025?
ConocoPhillips (+72 pts, now in the 88th percentile), Exelon (+69 pts, now in the 90th percentile) and Diamond Offshore (+63 pts, now in the 79th percentile), by change in hiring percentile since December 2024.
Which sector is hiring fastest in the US in December 2025?
Real Estate: its median employer is in the 77th hiring percentile, and the fastest hirer in the sector is Digital Realty. The slowest sector is Consumer Discretionary, with a median in the 39th percentile.
Which jobs account for the most US hires in December 2025?
The largest role families by share of hires at US panel employers are software engineering (22.0%), operations & manufacturing (9.9%), sales (7.0%). The biggest 12-month gain in share is in data & machine learning, +0.6 pts.
How is the hiring percentile calculated?
From job changes in public résumé histories over a rolling 36-month window, not from job postings. Each employer is ranked by hiring pace among all employers in the panel: 0 is the slowest, 100 the fastest. Only employers with enough observed job changes are ranked, and the data is updated monthly.
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Data: HÜNT Workforce Panel · résumé history · updated monthly · data through December 2025 · Methodology