For anyone clinging to a job they hate, here’s a wake-up call: you’re statistically more likely to regret staying put than walking away.
According to research from Resume Now, nearly 60% of people say their biggest career regret is staying in a bad job too long.
Although most workers agonize over whether leaving will be a mistake, the data suggests it’s actually not leaving soon enough that comes back to haunt them. In fact, just 38% say they regret quitting a job.
What’s more, workers regret “job hugging” more than the times they didn’t speak up for themselves in meetings, more than when they didn’t ask for a promotion and more than not getting a college degree.
Yet the practice is becoming increasingly common.
Workers plan on ‘job hugging’ until at least 2027—but what does that actually mean?
Job hugging is the new label for workers who cling to their current jobs for security, even when they’re unhappy, disengaged, or itching to leave. It’s less about loving the role and more about fearing what might happen if they walk away.
Essentially, instead of job-hopping like during the Great Resignation, many employees are now white-knuckling their positions, telling themselves they’re lucky to have a job right now.
And it’s not hard to see why. Tech leaders are consistently warning them that they’re about to be replaced by AI. And workers have watched their bosses follow through, with 1.2 million jobs laid off last year.
Now, a morbid mix of economic uncertainty, slower job creation, waves of layoffs, and anxiety around AI replacing roles has people holding onto their current jobs “for dear life.”
The recruitment company Monster, for example, reported at the end of last year that 75% of workers plan to stay put until at least 2027.
The cost of waiting it out: burnout and resentment
You probably won’t bag a huge pay bump if you quit your job in this economy, but research suggests you’ll be happier for it.
A separate Glassdoor study echoed this, reporting that a staggering 65% of employees felt “stuck” in their current positions. This rises to 73% of those in tech roles, where layoffs have been most rampant.
But sitting tight at one’s job has, for many, resulted in feeling detached, trapped, and resentful—over time, staying in a role you’re mentally checked out of can even fuel burnout.
“Staying at a job you hate can cost you your mental health,” the career coach Dr. Kyle Elliott warns, adding that it can have a knock-on effect on your career. “You’re more likely to get burnt out, which can lead to you underperforming. It’s better to leave on your terms, rather than starting to disengage and being terminated by your boss.”
“If you’re regularly questioning whether you should leave your job, it’s a sign you want to look for something new,” he tells Fortune.
“It’s no accident that trends like ‘quiet quitting’ are resonating now,” Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor, echoed in the report. “As workers feel stuck, pent-up resentment boils under the surface and employee disengagement rises.”
And in the end, it may be yourself that you resent the most; the Resume Now survey highlights that everyone’s top career regrets center around inaction.
Ultimately, far more wish they’d spoken up sooner, asked for that promotion, or left sooner rather than spending extra months—or years—hoping things would magically improve.
