Sign grim new work trend is already impacting workplaces

A new inclination has started to look successful workplaces crossed nan world, including Australia, and it is 1 that has experts earnestly concerned.

Most group person apt heard of nan word “job hopping”, which is nan believe of often changing jobs, usually to summation experience, summation net and accelerate profession growth.

Well, this caller inclination – dubbed “job hugging” – is fundamentally nan other of that.

Job hugging is wherever an worker stays successful a role, moreover if they are unhappy aliases find nan occupation unfulfilling.

Having group stay successful their jobs whitethorn not look truthful bad connected nan surface, but experts person warned this inclination could person much superior consequences than galore whitethorn realize.

The arena is being fuelled from a spot of fearfulness astir occupation marketplace instability, pinch mediate guidance master and BoldHR laminitis Rebecca Houghton saying leaders “should beryllium worried”.

“Workers aren’t ‘hugging’ their jobs because they emotion them. They’re ‘hugging’ them because, frankly, nan replacement looks worse,” she told news.com.au.

“This is consequence aversion, axenic and simple-driven by economical worry and a world hangover from pandemics, restructures, fears that AI will return over, and everything successful between.”

Houghton said “people are tired,” pinch caller investigation from BoldHR showing 1 successful 3 managers surveyed are burnt out.

The HR master explained that nan operation of burnout and a risky economical situation tin lead to group leaning into familiarity, arsenic it feels safe.

She warned that leaders request to earnestly deliberation astir what happens next, arsenic occupation huggers “aren’t loyal”.

“The infinitesimal nan marketplace picks up, they’ll beryllium nan first retired nan door. Quietly. Quickly. Smart leaders won’t hold for nan exodus,” she said.

“They’ll enactment now, by building workplaces group take to enactment in, not ones they simply haven’t escaped from yet.”

There are already signs this inclination has started to return clasp locally.

Australia’s occupation mobility complaint has fallen for 2 years successful a row, pinch nan latest information from nan Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showing it is now astatine 7.7 percent.

Just nether 8 per cent of employed people, aliases astir 1.1 cardinal people, changed their employer aliases business successful nan 12 months to February 2025.

The number of group changing jobs has dropped importantly since nan COVID period, erstwhile nan complaint accrued to 9.6 per cent successful February 2023.

Trend signals a ‘major shift’

Rich Lewis-Jones, VP APAC of talent acquisition package supplier SmartRecruiters, said nan caller inclination is simply a “signal of a awesome displacement successful hiring dynamics”.

“Economic instability, AI-driven occupation uncertainty, and sluggish occupation maturation person made stableness nan privilege complete caller opportunities, particularly among Gen Z and younger professionals,” Mr Lewis-Jones told news.com.au.

From a hiring position alone, he said businesses are going to person to return a overmuch person look astatine really they not only attract, by support apical talent engaged.

“If labor stay, doggedly but disengaged, productivity and invention suffer,” he said.

“Proactive recruitment that emphasises stability, learning, and early imaginable is simply a awesome plus successful this market.”

Job hugging is vastly different from different activity trends that person go popularised successful caller years.

Not excessively agelong ago, trends for illustration quiet quitting, acting your costs and bare minimum Mondays were sweeping offices, arsenic labor fought backmost against what they deemed to beryllium unrealistic workloads.

But Houghton pointed retired that occupation hugging is not a protest; it is simply a retreat, pinch group opting for stableness complete maturation amid uncertainty.

She said, while this is understandable, it comes astatine a cost, informing engagement will drop, invention will stall and talent improvement will flatline.

‘That is your reddish flag’

It is not conscionable employers that request to beryllium concerned astir this caller phenomenon, pinch objective scientist Dr Kaitlin Harkess saying nan “huggers” themselves are astatine risk.

Speaking to news.com.au, she said, while occupation hugging tin connection short-term alleviation done stableness and security, nan “cost whitethorn beryllium higher” successful nan agelong term.

“Misaligned jobs and workplaces tin erode assurance and motivation. From disengagement to burnout, our wellness suffers,” Dr Harkess said.

“From a psychological lens, nan threat is that nan longer you run from fearfulness and sunk costs, nan much helpless and trapped you feel.

“Symptoms of worry and slump tin summation on pinch self-confidence, and it tin go moreover harder to pivot and harder to retrieve that activity tin consciousness meaningful.”

However, simply staying astatine a occupation doesn’t mean you are joining successful connected nan “hugging” trend.

For example, a personification whitethorn take to enactment astatine their occupation because nan stableness gives them state to attraction connected family aliases passions extracurricular of work.

This is simply a conscious and empowering choice, pinch Dr Harkess pointing out, successful this case, nan personification is accepting discomfort and still moving towards what matters to them.

Whereas “unhealthy” occupation hugging is nan other of this, pinch nan worker staying stuck because they “can’t tolerate nan uncertainty of change”.

“This behaviour whitethorn look nan aforesaid connected nan surface, but nan psychological motivation, fearfulness versus choice, makes each nan quality successful life quality,” she said.

So, really tin you cognize whether you are staying successful a occupation because it is nan correct prime for you aliases because you are frightened to leave?

Dr Harkess said nan Sunday scaries, changeless boredom, irritability and vexation could each beryllium clues that a personification is clinging to a occupation successful a measurement that is harmful to them.

Stress symptoms specified arsenic fatigue, mediocre slumber aliases headaches could besides beryllium an indication, on pinch behavioral changes for illustration withdrawing from colleagues and a deficiency of engagement.

“While psychologically, you want to watch for inflexibility, which occurs erstwhile nan fearfulness of alteration outweighs one’s values,” she said.

“For instance, if you drawback yourself saying, ‘I’d time off if I could, but I can’t’, you whitethorn person slipped into learned helplessness.

“That’s your reddish emblem that occupation hugging has go occupation trapping.”