Workers are ‘job hugging’ in a stagnant labor market, but growing resentment means they could bail as soon as the next Great Resignation comes

Consultants warn that the stagnant labor market leads workers to keep their jobs tightly, even with an increased uncertainty in the workplace, warns of employees. But while employees remain in the storm’s position, this work is a “job embrace” that can only be temporary because they are preparing to escape as soon as the market conditions improve.
The “great resignation” of the epidemic era witnessed that 47 million people left their jobs in 2021 and 50 million others in 2022 while searching for flexible working conditions and higher wages. With the return of job opportunities and rotation to pre -pond levels in 2023, the mass migration of workers moved to “great residence”.
Today, since the induction uncertainty threatens companies ’growth and private stock financing plans, not to mention developments in the concerns of employees who make artificial intelligence employees about displacement – workers remain in additional anxiety. They are concerned that if they resign, they will not be able to find options elsewhere, according to the Korn Ferry Consulting Company. This act of “job embrace” has workers hanging on their positions for “dear life”.
“Looking at all the activity that happened after that, then some of these continuous hairdos, people are waiting and sitting in the seats and hope they will have more stability,” Korn Ferry told Consulting Stacy Decesaro luck.
Since the fourth quarter of 2024, the Eagle Hill Employees’ Consultation Index indicated the increasing intention of the employees to stay in their current jobs in the next six months. Consultations also witnessed a decrease of 4.4 points in the market opportunities index in the last quarter, indicating a sharp decrease in employee perceptions of the labor market. American salary statements have grown only 73,000 in July, and it has expanded at a rate of only 35,000 in the past three months.
“No one wants to leave unless he is not very happy or very miserable in his job or is very anxious about the company,” said Destaro.
The increase in the employee’s frustration
Just because more employees are committed, they do not mean that they are happy with that. A report issued by Glassdooor found that 65 % of employees reported their feeling that they were “stuck” in their current locations, including 73 % of employees in technology roles. With fewer alternatives, a narrow sitting in the function, for many, led to the cabin fever.
“It is not a coincidence that trends like” quitting quiet “are echoes now,” wrote Daniel Zhao, the main economist at Glassdooor in the report. “When workers feel stumbled, the pent -up resentment is giving up under the surface and decomposing.”
In addition to the prospects for bleeding jobs elsewhere, employees are also struggling with a roundabout of the company’s management, which exacerbated feelings of discomfort and separation from the company’s vision. Some of its customers said they worked under three different heads of companies during the 18 months.
The rotation rate of the executive director reached its highest levels in decades, as the departures jumped by 12 % from June 2024 to 2025, according to data from the Executive Place Company, Gray & Christmas, as it reached the highest levels since the company began tracking rotation in 2002.
In other cases, Destaro said, the new administration has provided hope for employees, which motivates them to circumvent a much longer period, even if their culture in the workplace is not finally finished for the better.
Combating, these factors led to the emergence of “calm cracking”, the arrival of the employees to the point of collapse and mentally verifying. The decrease in productivity as a result of the separation of employees costs the global economy $ 438 billion in 2024, according to the Gallup report for the year 2025 in the global workplace.
Redux
Employees may have few other job options now, but once the market conditions are compatible, this quiet resentment will undoubtedly mean Deja Vu for employers, Disaru said: Another wonderful resignation is coming.
“Once the market improves, I think it will be very active because there is a lot of pent -up demand,” “I was miserable here for a while, but I was waiting for a better chance or a better market to move,” said Destaro.
If employers want to ensure that their workers do not leave as soon as they see other professional options, they must focus on searching for opportunities to open the doors of communication between administrative workers and those working in the rank and files, as well as spending some time in collecting and listening workers’ notes, according to DESESARO.
With some functions remain completely distance, there should be a constant effort to collect once a year or a quarter to create a coherent company culture.
“The rotation of the fruit basket for talent will be,” said Desizaru. “But if you have invested in your people from now and when that happens, people will be digging to leave.”
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2025-08-18 17:59:00