To stay or to go? That’s the perennial question for workers trying to maximize their pay in a “peanut-butter” raise economy. But in the era of job-hopping and freelancing, freedom can come with a cost.
For higher earners, loyalty is rewarded. The top 5% of earners who stayed with their employers received year-over-year pay hikes approaching double digits, while peers who switched jobs only saw a low-single-digit bump, according to a Bank of America study using internal deposit data.
All other workers—including lower-, middle-, and higher-earners excluding the top 5%—all got a higher after-tax wage increase if they switched.
That’s if you get a raise at all. Bank of America’s data suggests about half of those who stayed in their job and 44% of those who switched jobs saw no pay increase, or in some cases saw a decrease in Q1 2026.
“In our view, it’s possible some of this may also be a function of the broader labor market slowdown for higher-paying industries,” Bank of America said. “Those who lost their jobs may have to settle for less in a tighter job market, while those who remained are now seeing larger pay rises. It could also be that in a ‘low-hire, low-fire’ environment, companies feel they have less reason to pay a premium to job switchers.”
The wage growth gap between job stayers and hoppers is the smallest in the past seven years, according to BofA.
Separate data from ADP tells a similar story. In January, the average pay growth difference between switchers and stayers was just 1.9%. The biggest gains for job-hoppers were seen in industries with high labor competition, such as construction, natural resources, and mining. Wages in these sectors grew 6.6% for job-hoppers, compared to 5.6% for job stayers.
Generational divide
Job-hopping has slowed since the Great Resignation, but there is still a generational divide.
Gen Z switched companies more than twice as much as Gen X during Q1, and it’s paying off, according to BofA. Gen Z job-hoppers’ earnings growth rate was four times that of stayers, and millennials’ wage growth was double compared to stayers. Lower-wage workers still see the biggest gains with switching jobs, even though pay increases for Gen Z hoppers have declined by 20% since Q1 2022.
The story for Gen X and Baby Boomer job-switchers is the opposite. Year over year, older job-hoppers’ wage growth stayed flat or even declined, while stayers’ earnings increased.
“In our view, some people in this generation may be taking similar or lower earnings as some are choosing to work less hours, perhaps as they approach retirement. It could also be that some have taken lower pay after being laid off or fired,” BofA explained.
