Like many, I received my Spotify year in review; and it made me start to on the year’s overarching themes. This is my personal take, shaped by dozens of conversations with friends, family, co-workers, customers, and even folks I chat with at my co-working space.
Here are 10 key lessons and observations from my 2025:
- The K-Shaped Economy: It really seems there are two economies right now, the rich are continuing to spend and don’t’ seem to be slowing down. While everyone else is trying to survive and are now looking at “Depression Era” recipes for inspiration. You see businesses targeting these higher customers and those businesses that are stuck serving everyone else starting to struggle.
- The Age of Ghosting: I will preface this with that I’m probably as guilty as the next person. It has been going on in the job market for years, but I’ve noticed that it has spread past the job hunting and is now a common experience. I get it, people get bombarded with messages. But I think we need a simple, universal rule: if you have a verbal conversation with someone about an opportunity or issue, a follow-up to close the loop should be the bare minimum.
- Hiring is Broken: It’s the biggest collective gripe on LinkedIn, on both sides, the recruiters, the hiring managers and the job seekers. I get it, hiring the wrong person can really hurt your business. But it really seems we have gotten so paralyzed in fear that it is hurting businesses. We seem more interested in not hiring the right person than actually filling the roles. This inertia is a detrimental habit that needs to be eradicated to achieve sustained excellence. My take, those companies that take calculated risks on people will be the successful ones.
- The Tariff Trade-Off: It seems that everyone had a plan regarding tariffs, and although I don’t know anyone who was happy with them (and the plan might have involved laying people off). The real killer this year has been the uncertainty. Businesses could plan around a specific cost, but the constant state of “being frozen” by an unpredictable environment is worse for stability and investment.
- AI: A Solution Looking for a Problem? No one seems to truly understand what AI is or how it can fundamentally help their specific business. There are a lot of buzzwords and not a lot of substance. I truly fear an AI bubble, especially with the costs we are seeing from potential vendors on “AI” tools that really don’t do anything of substance beside “look cool”. Personally, my own experiences are mixed: I had more luck iterating writing ideas or emails than with my “Vibe Coding” experiment. The trial with Cursor was inconsistent at best, and creating an infographic was problematic. AI tools are great for rapid prototyping and generating boilerplate code, but the nuanced understanding of user experience, robust error handling, and security still firmly reside in the human domain. The deeper question remains: If AI replaces so many jobs, how do businesses survive when people can no longer afford to buy anything? We need to start asking better questions about the future of work.
- The Healthcare Headwind: The rapidly rising cost of healthcare has become a serious headwind for businesses of all sizes, especially recently. It is a serious cost that is unavoidable but something that businesses and everyday people are struggling with.
- The Return of the Old Boys’ Club: If the resume becomes obsolete and we shift to hiring solely on networks and relationships, we risk creating a recipe for the “old boy’s club” to come back, where dissenting opinions are a thing of the past. But it isn’t only when looking for a job, it is also trying to drum up new business. Again, I get it people are being inundated with communication, particularly bad “AI” messages. People are retrenching and business success feels more dependent on “who you know” now than before.
- Scams Abound for the Desperate: The moment someone puts “Open to Work” on LinkedIn, the low-effort scams and “bad actors” come out of the woodwork. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good people who are trying to help but too many people fake expertise or demand exorbitant fees for things you can get for free from non-profits and organizations that try to help.
- Customer Service is Key, But What is it? Customer service is a major differentiator. Is “good” customer service a seamless UX experience, or is it talking to a competent person on the phone? Again, many companies are relying on AI to bridge this gap with disastrous results. Or worse yet, they are making this secondary. For example, my recent experience with the Jira UI/UX update highlights that even a good product can be undermined by poor rollout strategy and communication. Or worse yet, they get stuck in the endless phone tree when they need to simply talk to someone. We need to prioritize user-centric design principles to solve genuine market problems.
- Leave the Kids Alone: The widespread bashing of the newest generation as “lazy” is unfair. They are smart enough to see how their parents are often treated. They aren’t running headlong into a bad situation; they are simply exercising the right to say “no” to non-strategic, low-value work, a crucial skill in product management. I also notice that on LinkedIn, posts about how the job market is broken get rewarded, while thoughtful conversations often get overlooked, mirroring a broader societal preference for outrage over utility.
What were your biggest lessons from 2025? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!