A stagnating labor market is leading workers to hold tightly on to their jobs, even as growing workplace uncertainty stokes resentment and concern among employees, consultants warn. But while employees are staying put to weather the storm, this act of “job hugging” may only be temporary as they prepare to flee as soon as market conditions improve.
The pandemic-era “Great Resignation” saw 47 million people quit their jobs in 2021 and 50 million more in 2022 as they looked for flexible working conditions and higher pay. As job openings and turnover returned to pre-COVID levels in 2023, the mass exodus of workers transitioned to the “Great Stay.”
Today, as tariff uncertainty threatens companies’ growth plans and private equity funding slows—not to mention advancements in AI stoking employees’ fears about being displaced—workers are staying put with extra anxiety. They’re concerned that should they quit, they wouldn’t be able to find options elsewhere, according to consulting firm Korn Ferry. This act of “job hugging” has workers hanging on to their positions “for dear life.”
“Given just all the activity that happened post-COVID and then some of these constant layoffs, people are waiting and sitting in seats and hoping that they have more stability,” Korn Ferry managing consultant Stacy DeCesaro told Fortune.
Since 2024’s fourth quarter, the Eagle Hill Consulting Employee Retention Index has indicated growing employee intent to stay at their current jobs in the next six months. The consultancy also saw a 4.4-point drop in its Market Opportunity Indicator last quarter, indicating a steep decline in employee perceptions of the job market. U.S. payrolls grew by just 73,000 in July, and have expanded by an average of only 35,000 in the past three months.
“No one is wanting to leave unless they’re very unhappy or miserable in their job or just feel so unsettled by the company,” DeCesaro said.
Growing employee frustration
Just because more employees are sticking around doesn’t mean they are happy about it. A November 2024 report from Glassdoor found that 65% of employees reported feeling “stuck” in their current positions, including 73% of those in tech roles. With fewer alternatives, sitting tight at one’s job has, for many, resulted in cabin fever.
“It’s no accident that trends like ‘quiet quitting’ are resonating now,” Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor, wrote in the report. “As workers feel stuck, pent-up resentment boils under the surface and employee disengagement rises.”
On top of bleak job prospects elsewhere, employees are also grappling with a rotating door of company management, which has exacerbated feelings of discomfort and disconnect from a firm’s vision, DeCesaro said. Some of her clients said they’ve worked under three different company presidents in the past 18 months.
CEO turnover rates have reached their highest in decades, with departures jumping 12% from June 2024 to June 2025, according to data from executive placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, reaching the highest levels since the company began tracking turnover in 2002.
In other cases, DeCesaro said, new management has provided hope for employees, incentivizing them to stick around that much longer, even if their workplace culture ultimately doesn’t end up changing for the better.
Taken together, these factors have led to the rise of “quiet cracking,” employees reaching a breaking point and mentally checking out. The productivity dip as a result of employee disengagement cost the world economy $438 billion in 2024, according to Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report.
‘Great Resignation’ redux
Employees may have few other career options now, but once market conditions improve, this quiet discontent will no doubt mean déjà vu for employers, DeCesaro said: Another Great Resignation is coming.
“Once the market improves, I think it’s going to be super active because there’s a lot of pent-up demand of like, ‘I’ve been miserable here for a while, but I’ve just been waiting for a better opportunity or a better market to move,’” DeCesaro said.
If employers want to ensure their workers don’t leave as soon as they see other career options, they should focus on looking for opportunities to open doors of communication between management and rank-and-file workers, as well as take the time to gather and listen to workers’ feedback, according to DeCesaro.
With some jobs remaining entirely remote, there should be a continued effort to gather once a year or quarter to create a cohesive company culture.
“It’s going to be a fruit basket turnover of talent,” DeCesaro said. “But if you’ve invested in your people between now and when that happens, people are going to be reticent to leave.”
