Job Hugging Sounds Like a Good Thing — But It’s Actually a Pervasive Problem. Here’s Why.

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Key Takeaways The job market that created the Great Resignation looks much different today. With sky-high economic uncertainty, AI taking over jobs and layoffs hitting once solid-seeming industries like tech and finance, employees are scared for their jobs.

Job stability and employee engagement are two different things — your employees might not be quitting in droves, but they may not be engaged, either.

Now, employees are job hugging, a.k.a. hanging onto their jobs out of fear rather than actual desire to be there.

First came the Great Resignation, when employees shrugged off their underwhelming jobs in the wake of the pandemic. A distaste for returning to the office, a desire to slow down the daily grind and optimism that something better was on the horizon drove the surge, and for a while, workers held all the cards.

Then the tides turned, and we entered the era of Quiet Quitting — employees remained in their roles, at least on paper, but put out the bare minimum effort. Hustle culture had officially worn out its welcome, and workers were done pretending otherwise.

Now, we’ve entered yet another phase: job hugging, where employees are gripping their positions so tightly they’re at risk of throttling them.

For leaders, that might sound like good news. Turnover is down, desks are populated and the chaos of the past few years seems, finally, to be settling. But stability is not the same thing as engagement, and it’s important for leaders to be clear on the difference. Here’s why.

Why workers are holding on for dear life

The job market that emboldened the Great Resignation looks very different today. In the past, job hopping had a payoff. Younger workers in particular embraced regularly switching roles to achieve plumper paychecks and more impressive job titles. And at the time, it worked. According to a report from H&R Block, nearly one-third of Gen Z changed jobs, with 35% saying they did so with the express purpose of increasing their earnings.

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