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October 10, 2025
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Job hugging: The new trend explained
Job hugging: The new trend explained
As we approach the end of 2025, employees are facing considerable uncertainty in the current job climate. The job market is sluggish, business growth is slowing, layoffs are continuing, and inflation is rising. In response to this unpredictability, many U.S. workers have adopted a new trend to try to find some sense of stability.
That new trend is known as “job hugging”.
What is job hugging?
Job hugging describes the behavior of employees who cling to their jobs for a sense of perceived safety in an uncertain job market. Job hugging is quite literally the opposite of the practice of “job hopping” where workers change jobs frequently, typically every one to two years, often in pursuit of better pay, growth opportunities, or improved work-life balance.
What’s driving job hugging?
Job market uncertainty
Layoffs, hiring freezes, and high-profile corporate restructuring have put employees on edge. Many are reluctant to take risks or explore new roles, even internally, fearing that movement could make them more vulnerable if cuts come. This environment has made stability a priority for many employees, with familiarity often outweighing the appeal of change. Choosing to remain in a known role can feel like a smart, measured decision in uncertain times.
Financial pressure
Amidst ongoing economic volatility, inflation, and rising living costs, many employees are prioritizing stability. Employer-sponsored benefits like healthcare, retirement plans, and equity packages can make staying in a current role feel like the more secure option, especially when the future feels unpredictable. For some, job hugging isn't about fear or complacency; it’s a thoughtful response to a complex economic landscape. Holding onto a steady role can offer a sense of control and financial grounding when external conditions feel anything but steady.
Stability over ambition
After years of disruption, many employees are choosing consistency over change. Not necessarily out of fear, but out of a desire to regain control. For some workers, the motivation to climb the ladder has been replaced by a focus on maintaining routines, preserving benefits, and protecting work-life balance. Staying put can feel like a strategic pause rather than a setback in the current climate. In this context, job hugging reflects a recalibration of priorities, not a lack of ambition.
When job hugging is positive
In some cases, employees staying put can reflect stability, strong employee experience, or a deliberate investment in long-term goals. We’ll examine the positives of job hugging first, before taking a closer look at some of the challenges.
Retaining top talent
Job hugging can be advantageous to organizations when their top performers opt to stay put instead of hunting for better offers. It can create continuity, preserve institutional knowledge, and reduce the costs associated with turnover. In the right context, staying can be a sign of commitment, not complacency.
Steady hands during times of change
When companies face restructuring, leadership turnover, or shifting priorities, employees who stay rooted can provide much-needed stability. Their presence helps preserve team focus, maintain operational continuity, and anchor the culture while everything else is in motion. They become the steady hands that keep teams grounded, offering experience, context, and a sense of continuity during times of change.
Growth in place
For some folks, mastery within a role or a steady rhythm that supports balance creates a strong foundation for wellbeing. Staying doesn’t always mean stagnating. Employees who stay in the same role often have more room to refine their craft, take ownership of key processes, or mentor others. Progress doesn’t always require a promotion; it can also look like expanding influence or deepening impact within the same seat.
Strategic timing
Some employees stay in roles because they’re playing the long game: waiting for the right internal move, banking experience for future leadership, or aligning with personal milestones. In these cases, job hugging may be temporary and intentional. It’s not about settling; it’s about timing. When organizations recognize and support this kind of strategic patience, they’re more likely to retain high-potential talent for the long haul.
When job hugging is less than ideal
While job hugging can appear to support retention metrics, it can also be a false signal. On the surface, it suggests stability, but it may also mask disengagement, stalled growth, or missed opportunities for internal mobility.
Quiet disengagement
Job huggers may still show up and get the work done, but that doesn’t mean they’re fully engaged. A lack of energy, creativity, or initiative can quietly drag down team momentum. Teams that normalize disengagement, even subtly, risk becoming environments where performance plateaus and ambition stalls. This affects not just the individuals involved but the energy and drive of the wider workforce.
Retention without growth
Keeping employees in seats isn’t the same as keeping them engaged. When there’s no path forward, even the most loyal team members can lose motivation. A true employee retention strategy means creating space for development, movement, and purpose.
Managers carry the weight of misalignment
Managers are often the first to feel the strain when employees stay in roles that they’ve mentally checked out of. They spend time trying to reignite motivation, mitigate performance issues, or fill gaps left by half-hearted engagement. Over time, this kind of emotional and operational load can pull focus from strategic priorities and stretch even the strongest leaders thin.
What it means for your organization
At the height of the pandemic in 2021, a phenomenon known as “The Great Resignation” emerged, characterized by an unprecedented number of employees quitting their jobs. The Great Resignation was largely influenced by workers reevaluating their life priorities and refusing to work for employers that failed to meet expectations around flexibility, wellbeing, growth, and purpose. As a result, employers were forced to scramble to improve benefits, redesign workplace policies, and reexamine their employee experience strategy in order to retain and attract top talent.
Now that we’ve moved past the pandemic, the balance of power has shifted back toward employers. With fewer opportunities in the job market and economic uncertainty still looming, many organizations are returning to pre-pandemic norms, assuming that with fewer options available in the job market, workers are less likely to leave. In 2025, we’ve seen a number of organizations begin to scale back the policies and benefits that helped them to attract and retain talent during the pandemic. For example, instituting rigid return-to-office policies, cutting back on mental health resources, and quietly walking back flexible work arrangements that were once positioned as permanent.
Organizations that choose to scale back support or lead through intimidation may see short-term compliance, but they risk long-term disengagement. In contrast, companies that continue to prioritize employee wellbeing will be better positioned to sustain high productivity by keeping employees motivated, focused, and invested in their work. Companies may feel like they have the upper hand now that many employees are making a conscious decision to stay, but that doesn’t mean they won’t disengage, erode morale, or quietly stop contributing at the level the organization needs to thrive.
Organizations would be wise to continue treating employee wellbeing as a top priority even when they feel like they have the upper hand in the job market. Using leverage to cut back on support may seem efficient in the short term, but it’s a shortsighted move that can drain engagement, slow productivity, and weaken culture over time. Prioritizing wellbeing isn't just the right thing to do for employees; it’s a strategic investment in performance, retention, and long-term business results.
Ready to see how Navigate can transform wellbeing at your organization? Book a personalized demo today.
