How job hugging is impacting organisations and what to do about it
The IMF October 2025 outlook revised the negative forecast of its 2.8% global GDP growth from April to 3%, but the risks remain across trade policy shocks, weak momentum and fragile confidence. Global optimism has also dropped – only 59% of citizens are optimistic about their lives and families, 45% about their city or town. Energy prices have stabilised somewhat, but food, housing and healthcare costs have not. Wages are barely keeping up.
Anxiety has replaced optimism. Gallup found that employee stress has increased significantly on a global scale with 44% of employees stressed most of the day. The Edelman Trust Barometer paints an even darker picture with employee trust showing the sharpest year-on-year decline in worker optimism since the pandemic.
People are tired. They are wary. And they are hugging their jobs.
Safety over satisfaction
Hanging out alongside quiet quitting, job hugging is a reaction to prolonged instability. Employees are clinging to their current roles for security and stability even if they’re unhappy with the company and its culture. They are opting for safety over genuine job satisfaction or loyalty and, as of 2025, 75% of employees are staying right where they are until at least 2027.
There’s even a report on it. The Monster 2025 Job Hugging report found that 59% of people think job hugging has grown more prevalent over the past year with 63% expecting this to increase.
And it is manifesting in ways that are challenging companies on the hunt for talent. Potential employees are completing interviews, sometimes even signing offers, and then retracting, staying where its safe.
Others are negotiating aggressively for better roles and salaries, only to stay where they are when the offers come in. Others are declining internal promotions because they are too risky.
It's a behaviour pattern that’s gaining momentum across the world, and has a foothold in South Africa, a market already struggling to find talent and where talented people are struggling to find jobs.
The unemployment rate is at 32.2% as of the second quarter of 2025 and 8.4 million people are struggling to find jobs. For those sitting behind desks, a hug feels like the smartest way to ensure financial stability and survival.
Risk is greater than reward
People aren’t disappearing at the finish line or avoiding stretch roles because of apathy. It’s maths. Bonuses, medical aid contributions and the cost of commuting outweigh marginal salary gains and for many (most) the risk of moving is greater than any potential reward.
Yes, the new role may come with exciting responsibilities and a higher salary but what if it’s not a good fit and at the end of the three-month trial period they’re left unemployed?
Strategic investment: Elevate company culture by potentialising people
Job hugging protects employees, but it also changes the momentum of growth. It delays innovation cycles, slows team rotations and suppresses leadership pipelines.
Companies are enjoying apparent stability with lower turnover and quiet HR dashboards, but under the surface systems are calcifying and stagnating. People aren’t even trying to look over the parapet.
For South African retailers and technology firms, the risk is two-fold. If talent is frozen in place, then people aren’t experimenting or being creative. They’re stuck in a defensive position which means ticking boxes and charming co-workers, not leaping out in front of managers shouting about change or new ideas.
Motivate innovation
However, despite the cons of job hugging and the uncertainty it stems from, there are lessons to be learned. If people crave predictability and safety, companies can inspire them to be bold and creative within a culture that prioritises transparent pay structures and visible mentorship. If people know they’re safe, they will be more open to innovative thinking and bold moves.
Job hugging isn’t laziness; it’s a rational adaptation to fragility. This year, geopolitical uncertainty and complex social upheaval and mercurial economic environments have made it extremely challenging for people to thrive.
Job hugging is one answer, another is for companies to build cultures where people don’t need to cling because they already trust where they stand.
