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The so-called nice resignation has become the “nice keep.” However specialists say employees aren’t simply staying — they’re “job hugging.”
Job hugging is the act of holding onto a job “for expensive life,” consultants at Korn Ferry, an organizational consulting agency, wrote final week.
The speed at which employees are voluntarily leaving their jobs — often called the quits fee — has hovered round 2% because the begin of the yr, in keeping with information from the U.S. Labor Division’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Outdoors of the preliminary days of the Covid-19 pandemic, levels haven’t been that consistently low since early 2016.
The quits fee is a barometer of employees’ perceptions of the broader labor market, stated Laura Ullrich, director of financial analysis in North America on the Certainly Hiring Lab. On this case, they could be nervous about getting one other job or aren’t captivated with their capability to seek out one, she stated.
The present clinging is a stark distinction from the historic rate of job-hopping that employees exhibited in 2021 and 2022, however specialists say it is smart given present labor market developments.
The share of jobseekers who’re “not assured in any respect” that there are “loads of jobs” out there has elevated steadily, to 38% within the second quarter from about 26% three years earlier, in keeping with a quarterly poll by ZipRecruiter.
“There may be this stagnation within the labor market, the place the hires, quits and layoff charges are low,” stated Ullrich. “There’s simply not plenty of motion in any respect.”
‘Uncertainty on the earth’
“There’s fairly a little bit of uncertainty on the earth — financial, political, international — and I feel uncertainty causes folks to naturally” stay in a holding sample, stated Matt Bohn, an govt search advisor at Korn Ferry.
He equated the dynamic to skittish traders who generally sit on the sidelines, ready for an funding alternative.
The job market has additionally steadily cooled amid a regime of upper rates of interest, which makes it extra expensive for companies to borrow cash and increase their operations.
The hiring fee over the previous yr or so has plunged to its lowest pace in additional than a decade (excluding the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic) — that means those that need to search for a brand new job could have a comparatively powerful time discovering one.
Job progress in current months has additionally slowed sharply, which economists level to as proof of a broader financial slowdown. The ratio of job openings per unemployed worker has fallen by about half since peaking at about 2:1 in March 2022; it was roughly 1:1 in June 2025, the most recent month of accessible federal information.
Extra CEOs reported plans to shrink their workforce over the subsequent 12 months than increase it — the primary time that is occurred since 2020, according to a Convention Board quarterly ballot revealed earlier this month. The shares have been 34% to 27%, respectively.
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Whereas it isn’t inherently dangerous to remain in a job for a very long time, job “hugging” can pose some dangers for the unwary, specialists stated.
For one, they could be sacrificing some earnings progress, since job switchers typically command increased wage progress than those that stay of their present roles, Ullrich stated.
For instance, employees who get too snug of their present function could stagnate moderately than tackle further duty or be taught new expertise, which can influence marketability and profession progress when the labor market improves, Bohn stated. Employers may resolve such employees are not assembly their efficiency requirements, he added.
Moreover, a scarcity of motion within the job market could make it tougher for brand new entrants like current graduates to seek out work, Ullrich stated.
Correction: This text has been up to date to right the timing of the Korn Ferry and Convention Board studies.
