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Job Hugging: The silent threat to India’s skill ambition

India's educated youth face underemployment, with limited formal sector absorption. Job-hugging stifles innovation, wage growth, and skill upgrades, threatening economic dynamism amid automation and a stagnant talent market

August 26, 2025 / 11:48 IST
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Employees clinging to their current jobs out of latent fear is called 'job hugging'.

An unprecedented crisis followed the pandemic in corporate circles when quality talent across roles exited workplaces with audacity, seeking flexibility and advancement. Anthony Klotz, a professor at Texas A&M, famously termed this trend the Great Resignation. Back then, job-hopping was a sign of ambition.

Fast forward to today, and the pendulum has swung to the other extreme. We are witnessing what talent strategists now call “job hugging” -- employees clinging to their current jobs, not out of loyalty, but out of latent fear. This reversal is not anecdotal.

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Globally, “quits rates” have nosedived, signalling declining labour market confidence. In the USA, it has remained at 2% since early 2025, the lowest sustained level since 2016, excluding the pandemic. In India, attrition in IT services has halved from nearly 30% in 2021 to under 15%. A recent LinkedIn Workforce Confidence survey shows that, for the first time, Indian professionals prioritise “job security” over “career growth”.

With over 1.2 crore new entrants joining the job market annually and unemployment at alarming levels, this psychological retreat from risk has become a structural bottleneck.