Every career has a season of staying put. The market feels uncertain, the role is comfortable, the EMI is due. The habit now has a name, job hugging, which Monster defines as staying in a job longer than usual for comfort or security. It is not a mistake in itself. It becomes one when the decision to stay is never actually made.

How common is job hugging?

Very. In a Monster survey of 1,004 employed Americans in October 2025, 48 per cent said they were staying in their roles longer than they otherwise might. Nearly 85 per cent said they had done it at least once in their careers. Three in four expected to be in the same job two years from now.

The reasons are practical. Pay and benefits came first, at 27 per cent, and job security second, at 26 per cent. People are not staying because they love the work. They are staying because leaving looks riskier than it used to.

There is no equivalent survey for India, and the picture here is mixed. Attrition, at 18 per cent in Aon's latest salary survey, says plenty of people are still moving. But Gallup's data points to a large group who are staying without really being there: 59 per cent of Indians at work are not engaged, up from 46 per cent in 2022. That is job hugging seen from the outside, and our Long View, Present, paid and not really there, looks at it in full. In the parts of the market that have gone quiet, such as general software engineering, where hiring rose 1 per cent in October against 14 per cent overall, staying is often the sensible call.

Is staying a mistake?

No. Staying through an uncertain market is often the right decision. A stable role pays the EMI, builds depth and gives you a base to negotiate from. Plenty of careers are made in the third to sixth year of a job, when you understand the place well enough to change it.

The people doing it know the risks. In Monster's survey, 94 per cent recognised downsides. The most cited were missing out on higher pay (26 per cent), burnout from lack of change (25 per cent) and limited career advancement (25 per cent). Those costs compound quietly. One year of staying by default looks like nothing. Three years of it shows up in your pay, your skills and your appetite for the work.

The distinction that matters is between staying on purpose and staying by default. From the outside they look identical: same desk, same title, same badge. The difference is whether you made the decision, or inertia made it for you.

Are you staying on purpose?

Answer five questions. Yes or no, no maybes.

  1. Can you say in one sentence why you are staying? "The market is bad" is a condition, not a reason. "I want to see the product launch through before I move" is a reason.
  2. Have you learned something in the last six months that would make you more valuable elsewhere?
  3. Do you know roughly what the market would pay you, from a recruiter, a job listing or a peer, within the last year?
  4. Have you told your manager what you want from the next 12 months?
  5. If a comparable offer arrived tomorrow, do you know what it would take for you to say yes?

Three or more 'no' answers means you are staying by default. That is not a verdict on you. It is a sign the decision still needs making.

What does staying on purpose look like?

An hour of thought and a calendar reminder. Five parts.

A reason. Write down the one-sentence version. Make it specific and time-bound: a project, a promotion window, a skill, a financial milestone such as clearing a loan.

A return. Decide what this year should give you in exchange for staying: a skill, a wider brief, a title, a raise. If you cannot name it, you are giving your time away at a discount.

A conversation. Tell your manager. A manager who knows what you want can help you get it. One who does not will assume you are content. If pay is part of the return, appraisal season is the moment, and our Playbook on the 9.1 per cent question covers how to ask.

A review date. Put a date six months out in your calendar. On that day, take the five-question test again.

An exit option. Keep one door open without walking through it. Update your CV twice a year. Take the occasional recruiter call. Knowing what is out there is what makes staying a choice.

When is it time to go?

When the reason has expired and nothing has replaced it. When the return you asked for has been refused twice, with no date attached. When you take the test on your review date and the 'no' answers have gone up. And when the job has started to cost you more than it pays: Monster's respondents ranked burnout from lack of change alongside missed pay.

Leaving does not need to be dramatic. It starts the way staying on purpose does, with a decision.

The difference between staying and being stuck is whether you decided.

Sources

  1. Monster, 'Nearly Half of Workers Are "Job Hugging" as Comfort and Security Take Priority', survey of 1,004 employed US adults, 9 October 2025
  2. Gallup, State of the Global Workplace: India country-level data, 7 April 2026
  3. Aon, Salary Increase and Turnover Study, India, 2026 to 2027: 18 per cent attrition. Use the same link as in the Playbook 1 Sources.
  4. Naukri JobSpeak, October 2026: software engineering and QA hiring up 1 per cent. Use the same link as in the Signals 1 Sources.