Why workers feel 'stuck' in the job market

A businessman carries a box of belongings

More than 70 percent of Americans "think it's difficult to find a better job than their current one"

(Image credit: Westend61 / Getty Images)

"It used to pay to switch jobs," said Katherine Bindley and Lynn Cook in The Wall Street Journal. Now in some cases, it hurts. Two years ago, workers who switched jobs could command a nearly 8 percent salary bump, on average, fueling what became known as the Great Resignation—a wave of employees quitting for greener pastures. That wave has officially crashed. "The salary difference between those who stay in their roles (4.6 percent) and those who change jobs (4.8 percent)" is down to its lowest level in 10 years. Workers tempted to check job listings today are encountering salary deflation. "No one is paying what they used to," said Josh Vogel, who recently took a job paying $50,000 less for the same role he'd had previously. Senior and midlevel managers in tech sectors are facing "pay drops of $10,000 to $40,000 a year" if they want to switch jobs now.

Fear of missing out is being replaced by fear of getting laid off, said Claire Ballentine and Charlie Wells in Bloomberg. A couple of years ago, workers like Jacob Harris, a 36-year-old web developer, seemed foolish not to follow his peers by "switching jobs and notching big pay raises during the red-hot job market in 2022." Now more than 70 percent of Americans "think it's difficult to find a better job than their current one," making those like Harris "glad he stayed put" after seeing "a couple of those peers get laid off." Some career coaches say the previous job market gave young people an unrealistic "expectation of what normal career promotion looks like." Some of the decline in job-hopping may also be intentional, said Oli Mould in The Guardian. More young employees are ditching "hustle culture" in search of an "employer for life." They have been disillusioned by "the constant message from potential employers to be competitive, entrepreneurial, and flexible," which has "failed spectacularly" to deliver "career fulfillment, riches, or a healthy work-life balance." Instead of "chasing the highest salary at the expense of well-being," Gen Z is "choosing stability over chaos, community over churn."

"Stuck" workers are a troubling sign for the economy, said Rogé Karma in The Atlantic. "Switching from one job to another is the main way in which American workers increase their earnings, advance in their careers, and find jobs that make them happy." But according to recent polls, more than two-thirds of American workers feel "stuck" in their current role, and their confidence in finding another job has plummeted. A rise in job stickiness has historically heralded declines in innovation and productivity. "Living standards stagnate, inequality rises, and social mobility craters." A frozen job market can be one of the first signals of a broader economic Ice Age.