CHARLOTTE — Hiring pauses, layoffs, and AI implementation are creating new challenges for today’s workforce. Instead of looking for new jobs, many workers are hunkering down at their current positions — a trend experts are calling “job hugging.”
“Job hugging right now is the term that’s being used for individuals who are fearful of the job market, and because they’re fearful of leaving their current roles, they are staying where they are,” career consultant Mary Cavanaugh said.
It’s a new reality for job seekers — fewer job openings.
“I think that job hugging right now is sort of like a warm blanket,” one worker said.
Cavanaugh says job huggers need to be proactive and bring interest and curiosity.
The job market has cooled significantly, according to Babson College’s Josh Stillwagon.
“I think it has to do with some of the uncertainty around policy, so firms have been hesitant to hire because of some of the uncertain outlooks related to tariffs, for example, and the manufacturing sector in particular looks like it’s struggling,” Stillwagon said.
Job creation over the past few months is way down from the same period a year ago. According to the ADP National Employment Report, there are 666,000 fewer new positions this year compared to last year.
Still, Cavanaugh says job hugging shouldn’t be a long-term strategy.
“One of the negatives of job hugging is if you stay too long, and you’re doing it out of fear and complacency, that’s not helping your career or the organization.
Cavanaugh says agility is a critical skill in the workplace. She says in the past, it was nice to have, but now, employees must be able to embrace changes and new challenges.
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