What Is Job Hugging and Why Does It Matter for Employers?

Job hugging is an employment trend that has workers staying put: Labor market data shows that employee turnover is at a decade low, and not necessarily because they adore their employers. And while it might initially sound like a good thing for companies, when we grab our snorkel and look beneath the surface, it turns out it could be costing companies billions. 

Think about your own network: Have you seen fewer announcements on LinkedIn announcing new roles? What about layoffs? How about hiring announcements? The new year is reliably a busy one for the job market as companies pause hiring for roles over the holidays, then ramp up as they approach or wrap their fiscal year. But this quarter seems to be off to a slow start. Is your network job hugging? Maybe you yourself are, too. 

What is Job Hugging? 

In 2021, we had The Great Resignation: North American workers were leaving their jobs in droves as the workforce dealt with one of the biggest shakeups since the industrial revolution. Remote work became widespread, the economy ground to a halt and then picked up steam, and some industries furloughed thousands of employees while others scrambled to hire as they experienced growth like never before. 

Job hugging describes a recent trend in which employees are more likely to stay with their company, often reluctantly, due to an increase in economic uncertainty or a lack of opportunities elsewhere. According to MetLife’s 2026 Employee Benefit Trends Study, 77% of employees are planning on staying with their current company, but only 18% said they were doing so because they actually wanted to. 

“Low turnover doesn’t always mean high engagement. When the job market for employees is uncertain employees may stay put but gradually disengage,” says Lesley Dalzell, head of people and culture at SkillsWave. 

More broadly, labor market data supports these self-attestations. ADP Research found that the employee turnover rate in the US—including both quitting and layoffs—is the lowest it’s been in the past decade, at 5.8%. And while that’s noteworthy, it’s just as noteworthy that the turnover rate has been steadily increasing since 2022, when it hit 7%. 

According to Dr. Nela Richardson, Ph.D., ADP’s Chief Economist and ESG Officer, this drop can be at least partly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. While it was declared over in 2023, “the labor market continues to be shaped by its dramatic employment losses and their rapid recovery, when employers couldn’t hire workers fast enough after widespread quits and layoffs.” 

Why Employers Should Care About Job Hugging 

Initially, job hugging seems like a golden ticket for employers. Employee turnover—which costs companies billions each year—is less of a pressing issue, so employers have to focus less on engagement and retention. That sounds like the jackpot. 

The reality is much different and more costly. While employee turnover is down, so is engagement: The same MetLife research found that only 50% of the employees in the “staying with their company” cohort were actively engaged. This is a symptom of another workforce trend, called “quiet cracking,” which Fortune says “has resulted in a staggering $438 billion loss in global productivity in the past year alone.” 

Taking the employee turnover rates at face value means taking for granted that the employees who stay are still performing. They’re not. 

Things can also change quickly.  

In 2022, employee turnover reached its second highest of the decade at 7%. And just a few years before the COVID-19 pandemic, it peaked at 7.5%. Employers who found themselves workforce planning when the turnover rates were down found themselves scrambling when the pendulum inevitably swung back the other way. 

Think about your own workplace. Do workforce planning strategies come together quickly? Is the review process fast? Does rollout happen without hiccups? Are the impacts on employee morale and engagement realized overnight? 

What Employers Can Do 

Rescuing your workforce from job hugging is far from a hopeless endeavor. You can continue investing in employee retention even when turnover doesn’t present the same problem as it normally does. 

Using the “good times” (in air quotes because, as we’ve discussed, these aren’t really the good times) to plan for the challenging times is a proven method. Humans have been employing it for 100s of thousands of years, spending the fruitful growth months to prepare for harsher winter ones. It makes good sense in business, too. 

First off, continue investing in employee growth, or, if you’re not already investing in them, start. 

Investing in employee development is an easy win because it also helps other business needs, like addressing skill gaps. And an employee who’s learning and growing on the job is an engaged and productive employee. 

“Increasingly, the organizations that are thriving are those that are intentionally building learning organizations where employees continuously build new skills, leaders actively develop their teams, and learning is part of the everyday culture,” Dalzell says. 

Our research found that the vast majority employees—more than 82%—said they’d be more likely to stay with a company that invested in their professional development. And employees also recognize that upskilling is the best way to get a promotion or advance at their company. That’s clouded by a long-held belief among workers, though: the second-highest answer for how to get a promotion is to leave your company altogether. 

Staying focused on retention will pay dividends in keeping employees happy. It’ll also give you an edge when other employers are scrambling after they take their foot off the gas. 

“A strong learning environment not only keeps people engaged, it also gives organizations a competitive edge by helping them stay relevant and adapt faster as skills, technology, and markets continue to evolve,” Dalzell says. 

Even though employees may be staying put for the time being, they may not always be in job hugging mode.