‘Job Hugging,’ for Dear Life

Think about it: Have you noticed any colleagues leaving for a new role lately, or been asked to help someone find one elsewhere?

At an alarming rate, more and more employees are displaying what is colloquially known as “job hugging”—which is to say, holding onto their jobs for dear life. Most employees plan to stay in their jobs for the next six months, according to the Eagle Hill Retention Index, and perceive the job market as treacherous: Their sense of outside opportunities available to them has plummeted to its lowest level since the index began in 2023. And employees staying put is not necessarily good news. “Firms run the risk of becoming comfortable perches from which workers can jump when the time’s right,” says tech expert Matt Bohn, senior client partner at Korn Ferry.

To be sure, the job market has consistently cycled through stagnation jags for decades. But this time around, a sense of global events as unpredictable and unprecedented, combined with looming AI disruption, is making workers increasingly unsure—which can lead them to stay in holding patterns, rather than developing their skills and careers, says Bohn. Their torpor, in turn, blocks up-and-coming employees. “That’s the danger of this job market,” he says.

US job-growth figures slowed down substantially over the last quarter, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to an anemic 73,000 jobs added in July, down from the 111,000 monthly average of earlier this year. Recruiters are seeing these dynamics play out among executives, as high-level employees stay put unless they’re overwhelmed by the compensation benefits of an external option. This makes recruiting challenging. “Right now, top performers are only leaving if they’re miserable in their roles,” says sales and marketing expert Stacy DeCesaro, managing consultant at Korn Ferry.

Experts say that employees putting down roots is not all doom and gloom, and can in fact bring companies some opportunities, beginning with a financial boon: Without pressure to match outside salaries, organizations face less of a need to raise wages. At the same time, with less turnover, recruitment and training costs dwindle, says compensation expert Tom McMullen, senior client partner at Korn Ferry. Simply put, holding on to your workers is good business.

For once, great teammates are not leaving for external jobs every couple years, which means firms can develop those talents and create more internal career paths. The key to capitalizing on the stagnant job market is to implement strong programs for internal development and performance management, says Dennis Deans, global human resources business partner at Korn Ferry. “It’s great to have a long-tenured workforce and build capacities within it.”

Learn more about Korn Ferry’s Talent Acquisition capabilities. 

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