Why ‘job hugging’ can be worse than quitting

Amid an uncertain economy—the growth of AI, tariffs, rising costs—companies are pulling back on hiring. As layoffs increase, the labor market cools, and unemployment ticks up, we’re seeing fewer people quitting their jobs. The implication: Many workers will be “job hugging” and sitting tight in their roles through 2026.

Put more pessimistically: Employees are going to feel stuck where they are for the foreseeable future. In many cases, that means staying in unsatisfying jobs. 

Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workforce report shows that employee engagement has fallen to 21%. And a March 2025 study of 1,000 U.S. workers by advisory and consulting firm Fractional Insights showed that 44% of employees reported feeling workplace angst, despite often showing intent to stay.

So if these employees are “hugging” their current roles, it’s not an act of affection. It’s often in desperation. 

“Being a job hugger means you’re feeling anxious, insecure, more likely to stay but also more likely to want to leave,” says Erin Eatough, chief science officer and principal adviser at Fractional Insights, which applies organizational psychology insights to the workplace. “You often see a self-protective response: ‘Nothing to see here, I’m doing a good job, I’m not leaving.’”

This performative behavior can be psychologically damaging, especially in a culture of layoffs.

“If I was scared of losing my job I’d try everything to keep it: complimenting my boss, staying late, going to optional meetings, being a good organizational citizen,” says Anthony Klotz, professor of organizational behavior at the UCL School of Management in London. “But we know that when people aren’t loving their jobs but are still going above and beyond, that it’s a one-way trip to burnout.”

The tight squeeze 

In cases where jobs aren’t immediately under threat, the effects of hugging are more likely to be slow burning. 

When an employee’s only motivation is to collect a consistent paycheck, discretionary effort drops. They’re less productive. Engagement takes a huge hit. Over time, that gradually chips away at their well-being. 

“Humans want to feel useful, that they care about the work they’re doing, and that they’re investing their time well,” Eatough says. “When efforts are low, that can impact a person’s sense of value.”

The effects stretch beyond the workplace, too. Frustrated and reluctant stayers can quickly end up in a vicious cycle, Klotz says, noting, “When you’re in a situation that feels like it’s sucking life out of you, you end up ruminating about how depleting it is, then end up so tired that you don’t have energy for restorative activities outside of work. So it’s this downward spiral—you begin your workday even more depleted.”

Longer term, job hugging stunts growth. “When you’re looking out for yourself, rather than the team or organization, your investment in working relationships begins to break down,” Eatough says. “Over time, staying in that situation means you’re more likely to become deeply cynical, which hurts the individual and their career trajectory.”

When hugging becomes clinging

Feeling stuck is nothing new. At some point in their careers, most workers will be in a situation where if they could leave for a better role, they would, says Klotz, who predicted the Great Resignation. 

But what distinguishes job hugging is that it’s anxiously clinging to a role during unfavorable labor markets. It’s not that employees don’t want to quit—it’s that they can’t. 

“It’s human nature that when there’s a threat of any sort that we move away from it and towards stability,” Klotz says. “Your job represents that stability. And currently, it’s not a great time to switch jobs.”

There are few options for job huggers. The first is speaking up and working with a manager to improve the situation. But this might be unlikely for employees who feel trapped or lack motivation in the first place. Klotz says cognitive reframing can help—focusing purely on the positive aspects of a draining role, such as a friendly team, and tuning out the rest. 

Finally, slowly backing away from extra tasks—in other words, quiet quitting—could mean workers can redraw work-life boundaries in the interim at least. Otherwise, beyond Stoic philosophy or a benevolent boss, there is little choice but to wait it out. 

In some cases, a job hugger may eventually turn it around, ease their grip, and become quietly content in their role. But more often, wanting to quit usually leads to actually quitting. 

In effect, job hugging is damage control: hanging on until the situation changes. “I think we’ll see some people be resilient, wait it out, and find another role,” Klotz says. “But there’ll be others in the quagmire of struggling with exhaustion of spending eight hours a day in a job they don’t like.”

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