HP’s people leader for Australia and New Zealand explains how internal mobility and career conversations keep staff engaged amid uncertainty
Two-thirds of knowledge workers say it feels too risky to leave their job right now, according to HP’s 2026 Work Relationship Index – but the company’s own people leader for Australia and New Zealand says job hugging doesn’t have to mean standing still.
The fourth annual index, run by HP with the National Research Group, surveyed 19,506 desk-based workers across 15 countries, including Australia, between 7 April and 13 May 2026. It found 67 per cent of knowledge workers believe leaving their job is too risky – a trend widely described as “job hugging”, where employees hold onto their roles amid economic uncertainty rather than seek opportunities elsewhere.
Seemali Shukla, people leader for Australia and New Zealand at HP, and guest speaker at the upcoming HRFest 2026, said the finding reflects what she is seeing locally. Attrition across the business has fallen by around 10 percentage points over the past year to just over 4 per cent, while 27 per cent of job requisitions last year were filled internally.
“So when the report talked about people staying in their current jobs or people staying in the current organisation, we call it job hugging, but I say people are happy,” Shukla told HRD.
“While there is a point on job hugging, people are staying with the organisation, but it’s not that they are staying in the same job. They are moving within the organisation for the right kind of opportunities that they are getting.”
The local picture is challenging. According to the index, only 22 per cent of Australian knowledge workers report a healthy relationship with work, below the global average of 29 per cent. It’s a pattern explored in our analysis of how job hugging is masking a productivity crisis in Australian workplaces.
How HP tests whether job hugging is healthy
Shukla, who is in her 13th year at HP, said long tenure is part of the company’s culture. But low attrition only matters if the right people are staying.
“It’s very important as a people leader to establish whether the right people are staying in the role. Is it your key talent? Or is it your bottom talent that’s job hugging?” she said.
HP combines its annual Voice Insight Action Survey and regular pulse surveys with an employee guidance tool, where managers rate staff on contribution versus potential, time in role, mobility and where they could be in one or two years. Shukla also runs quarterly talent reviews with business leaders and the managing director.
“Because sometimes they are not able to document everything, and when they start talking, they tell us more about, hey, while this individual is not mobile currently, and that’s why I marked no, however, the kids are growing, the kids are in high school, and one year down the line, this person would be able to relocate to New Zealand or relocate somewhere else,” she said.
Career conversations put employees “in the driver’s seat”
The index found career development is closely tied to security. Among Gen Z knowledge workers, 73 per cent say company investment in their development makes them feel more secure about the future, as do 72 per cent of Millennials, 67 per cent of Gen X and 57 per cent of Boomers.
Career development plans for key talent are part of one of six strategic initiatives HP’s Australia and New Zealand leadership team adopted in response to its engagement survey. Shukla shares a discussion format with employees a week to 10 days before a one-on-one, sometimes without their manager present. Some use it to seek a path to a new role; others say they want to stay at their current level rather than take on people management.
“It definitely helps because what do human beings want? They want to be heard. And you’re giving them that chance to be in the driver’s seat, talk about it, yet you’re there to guide them through,” she said.
Employees regularly follow up with their own action points, Shukla added – an approach consistent with the case for how HR teams can encourage internal mobility in the workplace.
What can HR leaders do when staff are anxious about the economy?
The figure that concerned Shukla most was the share of workers in the index’s Critical Zone – 35 per cent of knowledge workers globally. The report also found 59 per cent of respondents say the cost of living has worsened over the past two years.
“First, address the elephant in the room. Be very transparent. Do not give them all a rosy picture. Be very honest, and I think we do pretty well,” Shukla said.
At HP’s quarterly business connect, the managing director presents business results before Shukla follows with a people slide outlining what the organisation is doing in response. Internal job opportunities are emailed across Australia and New Zealand every fortnight, and senior leaders spend their “first twenty minutes” in the office walking the floor and talking to staff.
The index suggests this kind of visibility matters. Trust in senior leaders to make the right decisions for employees rose six points to 54 per cent in 2026, but sits at just 24 per cent among workers in the Critical Zone.
“Obviously, we can’t do what’s not within our control or what we can’t, but doing these little things adds a lot of value,” Shukla said.
Shukla will be speaking at HRFest Australia 2026 on the panel “Workforce Intelligence – Stop Guessing, Start Predicting”, which looks at how HR functions are using AI and predictive analytics to map future skill gaps, build succession pipelines and get ahead of talent risk within Australian data privacy and compliance guardrails. Find out more in our final countdown to HRFest Australia 2026.
