The UK is in the midst of economic slowdown, and it’s hitting employers and workers, according to the Independent.
Where in the world? The UK job market has been unstable since October 2024, and employers are struggling. Just 11% of UK employers plan to hire before the end of the year, the sharpest recruitment decline in the world, according to a new report from ManpowerGroup.
“The UK economy has stalled and with it so has hiring,” Petra Tagg, workforce solutions director at ManpowerGroup, told People Management. “The labour market has been moving at an almost glacial pace for months and, while there remains some movement in roles for the highly skilled, we’re very far off the 30 percent hiring outlooks we saw in early 2022.”
Businesses in the UK have to decide if they want to invest in new workers or AI and automation, according to Tagg, and are looking to reduce costs and use “flexible hiring arrangements” to adapt to the new economic reality.
Workers are seemingly reacting in kind, with more than half recently saying they are more focused on job security than career ambition, according to the Independent. The trend (because everything needs a name these days) is referred to as “job hugging.”
“Workers are facing a difficult balancing act—while pay growth remains strong, inflation continues to eat into real wages, and job opportunities are thinning out,” Nina Skero, economist and chief executive of the Center for Economics and Business Research, told the Independent.
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Satellite view. Job hugging isn’t just happening in the UK—workers in the US are also holding onto their jobs for dear life. August was the latest in a string of disappointing months for the US jobs market, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. After jumping to bigger ships in 2022, employees are staying put, waiting for calmer waters, the Wall Street Journal reported. Most don’t see opportunities outside of their current role and expect to stay in it for at least the next six months, according to a report from Eagle Hill.
“A more substantial downturn…[is] not a guarantee, but especially with the increasing unemployment rate there are more signs that the job market is weakening in an unhealthy manner,” Daniel Zhao, chief economist at Glassdoor, told HR Brew.
Experts warn that job hugging isn’t necessarily good for employers, because a certain amount of turnover is necessary for motivated and engaged teams, according to CNBC.
Matt Bohn, a senior client partner at Korn Ferry wrote that the consequences are a mixed bag, as employers can train tenured workers for career paths directly within their firms. However, “firms run the risk of becoming comfortable perches from which workers can jump when the time’s right.”