Summary: Employees are staying in their roles longer, but not necessarily for the right reasons. As economic uncertainty deepens, job hugging is on the rise. For HR leaders, the risk is now a workforce that’s present but disengaged, stable but not growing. The solution lies in rethinking EVP, investing in development and giving people a reason to grow.
In today’s business environment, unexpected disruption is no longer a phase to endure, it’s a defining feature. From rapid advances in AI to geopolitical tensions and shifting trade policies, organisations are operating against an unpredictable backdrop. At the same time, a cooling labour market is reinforcing employees’ desire for stability and job security.
This has created a contradictory dynamic. While retention levels are rising, employee engagement is not necessarily following suit. Even Gen Z, who are often characterised as frequent job movers, are showing a growing preference for job security over rapid progression or constant movement.
This behaviour, increasingly referred to as “job hugging”, is becoming widespread: 86 per cent of workers report having stayed in a role primarily for stability at some point in their careers, and 65 per cent expect this trend to intensify in the year ahead.
The result, identified in our 2026 World of Work Trends Report is a “stability paradox”: employees are prioritising predictability and security, while organisations must remain flexible and responsive to their operating environment.
For HR leaders, the challenge lies in balancing these competing needs; creating a sense of security without sacrificing development or adaptability.
Why stability alone can backfire
At first glance, job hugging may appear beneficial for organisations, particularly when it comes to reducing voluntary attrition. However, when employees remain in roles primarily to ensure job security, motivation and engagement can decline as a result.
This creates a workforce that is stable but not as productive as it could be. This is a costly outcome, with disengagement estimated by Gallup to drain trillions from the global economy every year.
Our research shows that only a minority of leading organisations explicitly position stability and job security within their Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Those that do often benefit from lower turnover, but this alone is not enough. Without equal emphasis on progression and opportunity, employees can quickly feel stagnant, and this leads to reduced engagement.
By contrast, organisations that embed reward, recognition and internal mobility into their EVP tend to see more dynamic career movement. Those with high internal promotion and healthy talent movement are five percentage points more likely to use this practice.
The most effective approaches do not treat stability as an endpoint, but as a platform that supports ongoing growth.
Top employers such as Boehringer Ingelheim successfully demonstrate how this balance can be achieved. Leaders at the company recognised that high retention could obscure emerging potential.Aas a result, they have worked to more explicitly connect performance and development to career movement.
By linking long-term workforce planning with visible development opportunities including cross-functional projects and international assignments, they ensure that stability can successfully coexist with career progression.
When employees remain in roles primarily to ensure job security, motivation and engagement can decline
From job security to career momentum
Employees seeking stability are not necessarily abandoning ambition; however. On the contrary, there is a growing expectation that employers will invest in continuous development.
Skills-based progression is gaining traction, with two out of three workers surveyed by Deloitte indicating they are more likely to join and stay with organisations that prioritise potential over traditional credentials.
Learning and development strategies are, therefore, becoming central to retention. Global data consistently shows that access to learning opportunities is a key factor in employees’ decisions to remain with an organisation.
Top employers already acknowledge the importance of this, with 67 per cent ranking career advancement and personal growth opportunities as a top three EVP priority. This has seen a sharp increase in the past year, as only 15 per cent ranked it one of their top three priorities in 2024, compared to 27 per cent in 2025.
This reinforces a critical point for HR leaders: stability and growth are not opposing forces, but complementary ones. HR leaders are already acting in-line with this trend, with data from Gartner indicating that even amid budget constraints, a significant proportion plan to increase investment in L&D, prioritising it above most other areas in their financial planning.
Therefore, when organisations focus on long-term growth, those most likely to succeed will be the ones that prioritise stability as a foundation for change, using it not as an end point but as a platform to enable sustainable career growth.
The organisations that succeed will be those that navigate through the stability paradox rather than resist it
Building a stable and growing workforce for the future
As job hugging becomes more embedded in the workforce, organisations must rethink how they define stability. Rather than viewing it purely as retention, leading employers are repositioning it as a foundation for mobility, development and long-term engagement.
HR leaders are pivotal to this shift. That means expanding access to learning, investing in future-focused skills and equipping managers to have meaningful career conversations.
It also requires a more data-driven approach: tracking internal mobility, promotion rates and talent flows to identify where progress may be stalling and ensure motivation and engagement are maintained.
Ultimately, the organisations that succeed will be those that navigate through the stability paradox rather than resist it.
Stability should not signal standing still, it should provide the confidence for both individuals and organisations to keep moving forward.
Actionable insights
- Do you include stability and security in your EVP? If not, this is a gap that needs closing.
- What are your progression frameworks built around? Two-thirds of workers say they’re more likely to stay with organisations that back potential over credentials.
- Career growth has jumped from 15 to 27 per cent as a top EVP priority among leading employers in a single year: If it’s not a priority for you, it should be.
- The 86 per cent of workers who’ve stayed for stability aren’t disengaged by nature: check that every person in that position has a visible next step.
If you found this article interesting, read: Gallup’s 2026 workplace report: How do we fix the manager engagement collapse?
