65% of employees reported feeling “stuck” in their current positions

The once-dominant job-hopper is fading fast while the job-hugger has taken center stage, according to Bank of America’s latest research. The pandemic’s Great Resignation in 2022 marked the peak of job-switching, but data now shows workers are increasingly staying put. Consulting firm Korn Ferry recently described the 2025 labor market as one where employees are “holding on to their jobs for dear life,” a shift reinforced by July’s weak jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which revised earlier gains sharply downward. That slowdown, paired with continued layoffs, has left many workers clinging to their positions in search of stability.

Job-hopping is still more common than before the pandemic, but Bank of America notes the context is very different. In 2019, with unemployment at 3.5%—the lowest in decades—workers could change jobs with confidence. Now, the job-to-job move rate has fallen back close to pre-pandemic levels, and the payoff is far weaker: wage gains for job-switchers, which once topped 20% in 2022, are down to 7% as of mid-2025, slipping below pre-COVID averages. Recent Atlanta Fed data even shows job-stayers and job-switchers seeing the same wage growth, a dynamic last observed during the Great Recession.

Bank of America’s payroll data shows the sharpest drop in job-hopping across white-collar fields like finance, information, and professional services. In contrast, industries such as manufacturing and construction still see more movement, aided by weekly pay structures and ongoing labor shortages. But even here, the trend points toward reduced churn. Surveys back this up: Glassdoor found 65% of workers feel “stuck” in their jobs, and Gallup estimates global disengagement cost hundreds of billions last year. For many, job-hugging is less about loyalty than necessity.

The picture is especially tough for younger workers. More than 13% of the unemployed in July were new entrants or jobseekers with no prior experience, a share skewing heavily toward Gen Z and the highest level since 1988. Their unemployment rate climbed to 7.4% in June, and the Richmond Fed warns this generation has borne disproportionate setbacks due to disrupted education and training. Bank of America notes that many young people are leaving studies early or struggling to transition into the workforce, leaving them at greater risk of long-term scarring.