From Job Hopping to Job Hugging: Hourly Workers (and Their Employers) Face New Realities

Alexis Miller
Sep 4
4 min read

For years, job hopping was considered one of the surest ways to boost your paycheck. If you didn’t like your employer, or simply wanted more money, the advice was simple: jump ship. But the tide seems to have shifted.

A new term is taking hold in the labor market: job hugging. Instead of chasing higher wages by switching employers, workers are clinging to the jobs they have, not necessarily out of loyalty, but because the payoff for leaving has started to shrink. It’s less about a deep connection to your employer and more about economic reality; the raise you get from switching jobs today isn’t what it used to be.

What Is Job Hopping?

Job Hopping: Traditionally, job hopping means changing employers frequently, every few years, or months in the hourly world, often driven by a desire for higher pay, better benefits, or professional advancement. During the Great Resignation, this strategy paid off handsomely, with job switchers commonly receiving double-digit pay bumps.

What is Job Hugging?

Job Hugging: In today’s more cautious climate, job hugging refers to staying put, or clinging to your current position not for fear of change, but because the upside of switching has eroded. It’s less about loyalty and more about pragmatism in a less lucrative, slower-moving labor market.

What's Causing The Job Hugging Shift?

The new job hugging phenomenon is the biggest takeaway from the most recent Bank of America report. Using payroll and deposit data from millions of accounts, the report showed that job-to-job moves have slowed significantly.

Key Job Hugging Report Findings

The job‑change rate has declined sharply. As of July 2025, it stood just about 2% above pre‑pandemic averages, down significantly from the peak of over 26% in 2022.
Pay raises from job changes have cooled. The typical job-to-job pay raise in July was around 7%, which is 3+ percentage points lower than the average bump in 2019.

This report may indicate that employers have regained bargaining power, however, the slowdown isn't hitting every industry equally.

Industries Most and Least Affected By Job Hugging

Where Job Hopping Is Cooling Down

Finance, information, and professional/business services: These sectors, where many earn monthly pay, are experiencing a noticeable slowdown in job changes.
Tech, Law, & Corporate Services: These white-collar office roles are especially seeing diminished job-hopping benefits, with wage gains for stayers often matching or exceeding those of switchers.

Where Job Hopping Is Still Holding Steady

Construction and manufacturing: These sectors, with a prevalence of weekly payrolls, continue to show relatively stable—or even slightly rising—job‑to‑job movement.
Leisure & hospitality, healthcare, and government: Although overall job creation is slowing, these sectors still account for most job gains in 2024, as they may offer more mobility for hourly workers.

What The Job Hugging Trend Means For Hourly Workers and Employers

So what does all this mean for hourly workers and employers who make up the backbone of America’s workforce? Although job hugging is on the rise for corporate America, the same can't be said for hourly positions. Job hopping is still prevalent amongst the hourly workforce, yet, here are some things to keep in mind as the gap between job hopping and job hugging becomes more narrow.

Job Hopping Still Holds Value

Unlike white-collar sectors, many hourly industries continue to see weekly-pay job‑to‑job movement. This means that switching jobs may still yield opportunities for better pay or terms if you’re willing to move and negotiate. Yet, it's important to bear in mind commuting costs and the possible stress of changing employers.
The Wage Edge Is Narrowing

Even if hourly workers do switch jobs, the extra bump in pay has shrunk. Overall job-to-job raises are now around 7%, significantly less than in earlier years, so the lure is weaker, though still present. With job apps that list clear, upfront wages for local openings, hourly workers can more easily spot and pursue higher-paying roles.
Stability Has New Value

With economic uncertainty, many hourly workers may find staying with a reliable employer, especially one offering flexible schedules and benefits, more appealing than job-hopping. This is especially true for workers juggling multiple jobs or family responsibilities where predictability can sometimes matter as much as pay.
Strategy Shifts for Employers

For hourly employers, this shift brings both challenges and opportunities. The challenge is that turnover won’t disappear (it never does in hourly sectors). Yet, with workers less tempted by outsized raises elsewhere, employers can lean more on non-monetary strategies to keep their teams engaged. Consistency in scheduling, fair treatment, and opportunities for growth may matter more now than dangling a starting pay rate slightly above the competition. In other words, the basics of good management and people-first practices carry more weight in an era where wage premiums for hoppers are fading.

Job Hugging vs. Job Hopping: Finding Your Edge

If you’re in a weekly-paid industry where demand is still strong, switching jobs can still make sense. But if you’re in a role where raises are flatlining across the board, job hugging might be the smarter play. And in either case, workers should think beyond the paycheck alone: schedule stability, culture, location, and commute costs all add up in ways that can make or break a job’s real value.

In a labor market that’s shifting back toward employer control, workers and businesses alike have to recalibrate expectations. While salaried professionals may find that sticking with their current role is often the safer bet, hourly workers still retain a small advantage when it comes to seizing opportunities through job hopping.

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