To all working professionals: would you consider the growth outlook in your industry/sector of the economy to be positive or negative over the next 12 months?

Positive (28%) – "I work for an engineering firm, and my compensation has continued to climb steadily in recent years with no signs of slowing, while business has remained steady."

• "The markets and my portfolio are doing well, so I can't complain. Future outlook in our market (consulting) is also pretty good. Our services will always be needed."

Negative (53%) – "I work for a CDC-funded grant. That agency has been beat up. We're still funded and doing important work, but funding has been decreased and awards are often delayed."

• "In finance/banking, regulation is expected to ease under the current administration and enforcement agencies have already backed off on prior rulings. Couple that with ongoing bank consolidation and a number of back-office jobs are getting cut (especially risk management-type roles). Front-office teams aren’t expanding either in most sectors that do not focus on technology."

"The DOGE cuts and cancellations of federal grants has decimated my field in education. I have several friends unable to find jobs and districts across the state are laying off teachers. I also have friends whose kids, who are recent college graduates, are having trouble finding jobs. This includes business and engineering majors. Coupled with all the federal financial aid changes as a result of OBBB, college students and graduates are going to be paying more in private loans with difficulty finding good paying jobs."

• "I work in hospitality and people don't want to visit the state I work in let alone the US. International travel is very low."

"Class 8 truck sales suck! The worst year over year i have ever seen and it looks like the rest of the year will not improve."

Unsure/other (19%) – "It's exactly what your article said, a mixed bag. It's hard for me to say it's awful as my stocks have doubled in the past year or so, but a lot of that is being eaten up by inflation. We really need housing and food prices to come down. It's crazy."

• "I work for a food company that sells both raw and further processed foods. People have to eat. As long as the food source doesn’t dry up, I figure my company will do ok even if they don’t sell quite as much further processed foods."