Job-hugging employees feel stuck with limited career growth opportunities
Job hugging remains a prevalent practice in workplaces despite the trade-offs that employees experience, according to fresh findings from online employment platform Monster.
The second volume of its Job Hugging Series has shown that 48.1% of workers are currently job hugging, slightly higher than the 47.6% a year ago, and bucking expectations that the practice would become more common this year.
According to the report, 87% of workers have job hugged at least once, including 51% who did it multiple times and 36% who just did it once.
"Together, these statistics on job hugging in 2026 show that the behaviour hasn't increased significantly over the past year, but it remains widespread throughout workers' careers," the report read.
Trade-offs of job hugging
The prevalence of job hugging comes despite the career trade-offs that employees experience from it, according to the findings.
Nearly a third of employees (31%) said job hugging decreases their satisfaction at work by making them feel stuck or limited, up from 27% a year ago.
A similar proportion of employees (31%) also noted that job hugging limits growth and advancement, also higher than the 27% recorded last year.
"Workers continue to value the security of a familiar role, especially when they are uncertain about how quickly they could find another opportunity," said Vicki Salemi, career expert at Monster.
"At the same time, more are recognising that staying can come with trade-offs, including feeling stuck or limiting their growth."
Why are employees job hugging?
According to the report, employees are only staying with their current jobs because of pay and benefits (66%), as well as job security or stability (64%).
More than a third of employees also cited work flexibility (41%) and their positive relationships with their team or manager (35%).
Confidence, or the lack of it, also influences employees' decision to job hug, according to the findings.
A third of employees said they are not very confident (25%) or not at all confident (8%) that they could find another role quickly.
What should employers do?
Salemi pointed out that employees should continue upskilling despite not yet wanting to leave their current roles.
"Employees do not necessarily have to leave to regain momentum, but they should continue building skills, documenting accomplishments, discussing advancement opportunities, and remaining aware of their value in the market," Salemi said.
Employers, who have long been warned of employees job hugging, have been advised to use the opportunity to develop their talent and introduce internal pathways.
Dennis Deans, global human resources business partner at Korn Ferry, previously advised employers to take advantage of the stagnant job market to implement programmes for internal development and performance management.
It comes amid the risk of employees ultimately deciding to leave the company when they believe it's time, according to Matt Bohn, senior client partner at Korn Ferry.
"Firms run the risk of becoming comfortable perches from which workers can jump when the time's right," Bohn warned. "That's the danger of this job market."
