A brand new pattern has began to emerge in workplaces internationally, together with Australia, and it’s one which has consultants critically involved.
Most individuals have possible heard of the time period “job hopping”, which is the follow of often altering jobs, normally to realize expertise, enhance wage and speed up profession progress.
Effectively, this new pattern – dubbed “job hugging” – is principally the other of that.
Job hugging is the place an worker stays in a job, even when they’re sad or discover the job unfulfilling.
Having folks stay of their jobs could not appear so dangerous on the floor, however consultants have warned this pattern might have extra severe penalties than many could notice.
The phenomenon is being fuelled from a spot of concern round job market instability, with center administration professional and BoldHR founder Rebecca Houghton saying leaders “needs to be fearful”.
“Employees aren’t ‘hugging’ their jobs as a result of they love them. They’re ‘hugging’ them as a result of, frankly, the choice appears worse,” she informed information.com.au.
“That is threat aversion, pure and simple-driven by financial anxiousness and a world hangover from pandemics, restructures, fears that AI will take over, and all the things in between.”
Houghton mentioned “persons are drained,” with current analysis from BoldHR exhibiting one in three managers surveyed are burnt out.
The HR professional defined that the mixture of burnout and a dangerous financial setting can result in folks leaning into familiarity, because it feels secure.
She warned that leaders want to significantly take into consideration what occurs subsequent, as job huggers “aren’t loyal”.
“The minute the market picks up, they’ll be the primary out the door. Quietly. Shortly. Good leaders gained’t look ahead to the exodus,” she mentioned.
“They’ll act now, by constructing workplaces folks select to remain in, not ones they merely haven’t escaped from but.”
There are already indicators this pattern has began to take maintain regionally.
Australia’s job mobility price has fallen for 2 years in a row, with the most recent information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) exhibiting it’s now at 7.7 %.
Slightly below eight per cent of employed folks, or roughly 1.1 million folks, modified their employer or enterprise within the 12 months to February 2025.
The variety of folks altering jobs has dropped considerably because the COVID interval, when the speed elevated to 9.6 per cent in February 2023.
Pattern indicators a ‘main shift’
Wealthy Lewis-Jones, VP APAC of expertise acquisition software program supplier SmartRecruiters, mentioned the brand new pattern is a “sign of a serious shift in hiring dynamics”.
“Financial instability, AI-driven job uncertainty, and sluggish job progress have made stability the precedence over new alternatives, particularly amongst Gen Z and youthful professionals,” Mr Lewis-Jones informed information.com.au.
From a hiring perspective alone, he mentioned companies are going to should take a a lot nearer have a look at how they not solely entice, by preserve prime expertise engaged.
“If workers keep, doggedly however disengaged, productiveness and innovation endure,” he mentioned.
“Proactive recruitment that emphasises stability, studying, and future potential is a good asset on this market.”
Job hugging is vastly completely different from different work traits which have develop into popularised lately.
Not too way back, traits like quiet quitting, appearing your wage and naked minimal Mondays have been sweeping places of work, as workers fought again towards what they deemed to be unrealistic workloads.
However Houghton identified that job hugging will not be a protest; it’s a retreat, with folks choosing stability over progress amid uncertainty.
She mentioned, whereas that is comprehensible, it comes at a value, warning engagement will drop, innovation will stall and expertise growth will flatline.
‘That’s your crimson flag’
It’s not simply employers that must be involved about this new phenomenon, with scientific psychologist Dr Kaitlin Harkess saying the “huggers” themselves are in danger.
Talking to information.com.au, she mentioned, whereas job hugging can provide short-term reduction via stability and safety, the “value could also be greater” in the long run.
“Misaligned jobs and workplaces can erode confidence and motivation. From disengagement to burnout, our well being suffers,” Dr Harkess mentioned.
“From a psychological lens, the hazard is that the longer you use from concern and sunk prices, the extra helpless and trapped you are feeling.
“Signs of hysteria and despair can enhance together with self-confidence, and it may possibly develop into even more durable to pivot and more durable to keep in mind that work can really feel significant.”
Nonetheless, merely staying at a job doesn’t imply you’re becoming a member of in on the “hugging” pattern.
For instance, an individual could select to remain at their job as a result of the soundness offers them freedom to give attention to household or passions outdoors of labor.
This can be a acutely aware and empowering alternative, with Dr Harkess declaring, on this case, the particular person is accepting discomfort and nonetheless shifting in the direction of what issues to them.
Whereas “unhealthy” job hugging is the other of this, with the employee staying caught as a result of they “can’t tolerate the uncertainty of change”.
“This behaviour could look the identical on the floor, however the psychological motivation, concern versus alternative, makes all of the distinction in life high quality,” she mentioned.
So, how will you know whether or not you’re staying in a job as a result of it’s the proper alternative for you or since you are scared to depart?
Dr Harkess mentioned the Sunday scaries, fixed boredom, irritability and frustration might all be clues that an individual is clinging to a job in a approach that’s dangerous to them.
Stress signs equivalent to fatigue, poor sleep or complications is also a sign, together with behavioral modifications like withdrawing from colleagues and an absence of engagement.
“Whereas psychologically, you wish to look ahead to inflexibility, which happens when the concern of change outweighs one’s values,” she mentioned.
“As an illustration, for those who catch your self saying, ‘I’d depart if I might, however I can’t’, you will have slipped into realized helplessness.
“That’s your crimson flag that job hugging has develop into job trapping.”
