Workers are ‘hugging’ their jobs. There’s a right way and a wrong way to do it

Tom Werner | Digitalvision | Getty Images

Workers are “hugging” — or, clinging to — their jobs right now.

But there’s a right way and a wrong way to “hug” your work — and doing it poorly could be costly, according to career experts and labor economists.

“I don’t think job hugging is the move,” said Mandi Woodruff-Santos, a career coach.

The “quits” rate — which measures the pace of voluntary separations from employment — has sat at 2% in recent months, its lowest sustained level since 2016.

About 52% of new hires had changed jobs just once in the past two years, according to ZipRecruiter’s most recent quarterly survey of new hires. That share is up from 43% in Q2. The site surveys workers during the second month of each quarter.

Some of that “hugging” behavior is likely out of necessity, since it’s gotten harder to find a job, experts said.

Job growth has weakened considerably, and the pace of hiring has slowed to its lowest level since 2013, excluding the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I think a lot of workers are cognizant of the uncertainty in the market right now,” said Nicole Bachaud, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter.

But it’s not one-sided: Employers are also clinging to their workers.

Workers were hard to find during the so-called great resignation in 2021 and 2022, a period with a historically high rate of job hopping.

“As a result, many companies do not want to get caught short workers and have held on to staff,” Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, wrote in a Sept. 10 market commentary. “And of course, uncertainty over tariff effects and economic growth has made many companies hesitant to expand their current workforce.”

Workers may fear more cuts are on the horizon in a cooling job market — and may feel safer in a familiar role rather than as a new hire at an outside organization, Bachaud said.

The job market could become more hospitable to job seekers if the Federal Reserve starts to cut interest rates this week, which could prompt many employers to expand their hiring activity, Bachaud said.

But choosing to stay at a job comes with risks, too, especially for sedentary workers who don’t seek out growth opportunities, Bachaud said.

“Complacency can put your job at risk,” she said.

Managers generally lay off workers for objective and subjective reasons, said Alan Guarino, vice chairman of CEO and board services at Korn Ferry.

More from Personal Finance:
More consumers are using rent payments to boost their credit score
Federal Reserve may cut rates for the first time since 2024
Teacher’s union sues Trump administration over student loan forgiveness delays

Objective analysis is based on measurable details: absenteeism, failure to turn in assignments, or having a bad attitude, for example, Guarino said.

Combating the subjective part of the formula means finding ways to stand out and “be impressive,” Guarino said.

That may be relatively more challenging to accomplish, as workers have lost bargaining power, he said.

“In a job-hugging market, you might actually have to work harder to be impressive because if there’s not as much hiring activity out there, your employer may feel like they’re in a position to ask more from you,” Guarino said. “They may have a high level of confidence that you can’t go anywhere anyway.”

This might mean taking on more responsibility, or signaling that you’re willing to take on new opportunities and challenges, experts said.

For example, workers who stay connected to customers and give them attention even when that customer isn’t spending money end up in a really strong position when the economy turns, Guarino said.

To that end, Woodruff-Santos, the career coach, advocates for “pivoting in place.”

This entails seeking ways to advance internally in your current company, perhaps by asking for a promotion or shadowing a colleague to pick up new skill sets, she said.

Relationship-building is also key during tough job markets, experts said.

Expand your social capital — your network of mentors, colleagues, those in other organizations — to set yourself up for success when the job market eventually thaws, Guarino said.

“During this ‘great hug,’ the time [workers] might have been spending looking for new jobs, they should invest in adding people to their network,” Guarino said.

“There will be another ‘great resignation’ on the horizon,” he said. “The ones building their social-capital network will be the ones getting the phone calls” when opportunities emerge.