Are folks clinging to their jobs for longer due to uncertainty within the office? This query is vital and related to all employers: A sure degree of “frictional” unemployment is wholesome in an financial system, and when staff keep in roles they dislike merely out of worry, productiveness suffers, alternatives for others get blocked and profession development stalls. This matter can also be academically attention-grabbing; the best way that uncertainty impacts decision-making has been the topic of intensive analysis. This quick piece will cowl each the sensible and the educational.
At JAMS Pathways, we see this sort of hesitation not simply in particular person staff, however throughout complete organizations. When worry of change or uncertainty goes unaddressed, groups can turn into caught in cycles of avoidance—one thing that proactive, structured dialogue can assist break earlier than it impacts efficiency.
Certainty vs. Uncertainty in Resolution-Making
Whether or not deciding to remain in a job, change jobs, undertake a brand new enterprise technique and even resolve a private battle, an worker is weighing the identified (the chook within the hand) towards the unknown (the birds which may be within the bush). In my practically 40 years within the dispute-resolution business—educating, coaching, mediating—I’ve seen this dynamic in practically each matter by which I’ve been concerned, from 30,000-person class actions to catastrophic pure catastrophe reduction to nonprofit boards scuffling with communication points to {couples} navigating a kitchen rework: Can we preserve the established order or transfer to a brand new different? Litigate or settle? Reconcile or divorce? Play it protected or take a threat?
Cognitive psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman studied how uncertainty influences decision-making. Amongst their findings was that uncertainty generates worry and that worry leads folks to freeze, to choose to protect the established order, even when the uncertainty is a mirage (each choices result in related outcomes, but we stand nonetheless on the fork within the highway).
One illustrative examine concerned skilled inventory advisors. They have been requested about how the result of the 1988 presidential election would affect public utilities shares. If the Republican candidate gained, they believed that public utilities would decline in favor of personal utilities (which might set off a promote suggestion). If the Democrat gained, all utilities would decline (once more, a promote suggestion). However of their advisory letters and communications, they really really helpful folks to “maintain,” or wait and see who gained the election. In brief, each forks led to the identical place—however as a result of the result was unsure, the advisors froze.
That stated, we are able to see that individuals do make selections and so they generally tackle threat. Not everybody freezes within the face of each resolution.
Let’s have a look now and see how that is taking part in out at work.
“Job-Hugging” within the Trendy Office
There’s proof that this decision-freezing phenomenon is manifesting in at this time’s work surroundings. Let’s take a look at the backdrop:
- Uncertainty is rampant. Worries about AI displacing jobs, considerations over tariffs and commerce, large-company layoff bulletins and shifting demographics all contribute to a heightened sense of profession threat. As an illustration, Amazon not too long ago reduce 14,000 positions and advised remaining staff to “lean in to AI”—a directive whose that means continues to be ambiguous.
- Economists say a sure degree of frictional unemployment is wholesome. Frictional unemployment consists of individuals voluntarily leaving jobs, looking for new ones and shifting careers. One other manner to think about it’s as short-term joblessness when staff are between jobs or getting into the labor drive. A correct degree of frictional unemployment is an indication of a dynamic and wholesome financial system. Traditionally, the noncyclical (pure) unemployment charge within the U.S. is about 4.3%, a degree that’s inside the vary of what’s optimum.
- But latest knowledge counsel that “quits” (voluntary job departures) have fallen from pandemic peaks, implying fewer individuals are selecting to depart jobs and probably extra are staying put. For instance, the quits charge reached a excessive of three.0% in November 2021 and has since ticked all the way down to round 2.0% as of mid-2025. The newest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey present a quits charge of two.0% in July 2025.
These indicators elevate the query: Are staff more and more selecting to remain in jobs they might not love as a result of the skin world appears too unsure? The explanations for job-hugging or job-hopping could rely partially on the tenure of the worker.
Generational Patterns and “Hugger” Habits
The explanations for staying put differ throughout generations. Let’s break it down.
Younger Staff (20s)
- My kids and their friends report a prevalent view: It’s higher to stay with a identified job than gamble on a “higher” job below unsure situations. Even roles like barista (amongst school grads) are occupied for 3 or extra years relatively than fixed hopping.
- However, precise knowledge present that tenure in first jobs for younger folks stays across the historic common of two.7 years.
Center Era (30s to 50s)
- Twenty years in the past, job-hopping was seen because the profession accelerator: shifting from agency to agency, sector to sector, particularly earlier than marriage, mortgage and kids.
- However as soon as tasks accumulate, many settle. An in depth good friend job-hopped early in his profession very efficiently. He grew to become a VP in his 30s after having six jobs in 9 years. However since getting married and beginning a household, he’s remained in the identical job. Amongst his technology, job-hugging could correlate with exterior commitments, making threat much less palatable.
Senior Staff (60s and up)
- My contemporaries (I’m 64) fear that leaving their job will result in involuntarily retiring—at a time when monetary safety is unsure and longer lifespans imply working longer is critical.
- With fewer defined-benefit pensions, weaker cost-of-living changes on Social Safety and an expectation that one ought to wait till age 70 to begin taking Social Safety advantages, many senior staff are staying put relatively than stepping apart. They’re not “job-hugging”; they’re avoiding retirement and could also be stopping youthful staff from advancing.
Throughout all generations, what we observe at JAMS Pathways is a shared sample: Worry constrains ahead motion. However when organizations foster communication, mentorship and collaborative planning, they empower people at each stage to make intentional, assured decisions relatively than reactive ones.
Why Employers Ought to Care
If staff are staying once they’d in any other case transfer, that has penalties—for each the group and particular person careers.
1. Altering incentives
Traditionally, employers rewarded lengthy service and loyalty. Then got here the period of job-hopping as regular. Now, maybe we’ve moved into the period of quiet quitting and “job-hugging”.
An worker staying put out of worry relatively than motivation will not be more likely to be as productive of profitable as a devoted, growth-minded longer-tenure worker.
2. Leverage for workforce growth
From an employer’s perspective, a risk-averse worker could current a possibility: They might be extra open to retraining and upskilling (e.g., studying to work with AI) as a result of they understand fewer exterior alternatives.
The second of uncertainty could give leverage to the employer: If staff really feel restricted, they might acquiesce to new expectations, reskilling and adjustments.
3. The blocked-pipeline problem
When job-huggers keep in roles they’ve plateaued in, motivated youthful or mid-career staff could stall due to blocked development alternatives.
Intrinsic motivation (studying, rising) is superior to extrinsic (preserving a job to keep away from threat). If a motivated particular person hits a ceiling as a result of another person is staying put, morale and productiveness could decline.
A Crossroads for Staff and Employers Alike
The thought of the job-hugger—somebody who stays in a job not out of enthusiasm or progress however out of worry of change—could also be extra related now than ever. Uncertainty within the labor market, fast technological disruption (e.g., AI), financial headwinds, commerce coverage shifts and demographic pressures all contribute to a extra risk-averse stance amongst staff.
For people, this raises a warning: Staying too lengthy in a task you don’t love as a result of the skin appears scarier could value you extra in the long term—in talent stagnation, suppressed development, diminished earnings and missed alternatives.
For organizations, the phenomenon presents each dangers and alternatives. A much less cellular workforce would possibly cut back turnover prices, nevertheless it may additionally drain motivation, block development and cut back organizational agility. Conversely, it might provide a window for upskilling and inside mobility if employers are proactive.
In brief, sure, there are probably extra job-huggers at this time than when change felt safer and mobility was simpler. Recognizing this pattern is step one; deciding reply thoughtfully—for each staff and employers—is the subsequent. When you’re staying due to worry, ask your self: What’s the price of staying? What’s the danger of shifting? Which is bigger? The reply may be the catalyst for optimistic change. If a job-hugger can summon the braveness to make a transfer and discover employment that higher matches their abilities and pursuits, possibly they will leap to a job they hug out of affection relatively than worry.
Written by Richard Birke.
