Insaaf Daniels has been watching a quiet shift take place in South African workplaces. Amid rising living costs, high household debt and economic uncertainty, the head of human capital at redPanda Software says many employees are holding on tightly to their jobs, not out of loyalty, but out of fear.
Insaaf explains this as a trend now known as job hugging, where people prioritise security over satisfaction, and explores how it influences innovation, slows leadership pipelines and also shares what CHROs can do to create the safety employees need to feel confident enough to move, grow and take on new opportunities.
Q: How would you define job hugging, and why do you think it became so prevalent in 2025?
Job hugging is when employees are fearful of leaving their current jobs, not because they are enjoying it, but due to the current economic climate, seeing the increase in unemployment rates, retrenchments at various companies and the decline of vacancies. They are opting for safety over genuine job satisfaction and, as of 2025, 75 percent of employees are staying right where they are until at least 2027.
Job hugging in South Africa is a response to economic pressures and job market uncertainties. The unemployment rate in South Africa is at 32.2 percent as of the second quarter of 2025 and 8.4 million people are struggling to find jobs.
Q: How can CHROs identify employees who may be hugging their jobs, and what behavioural or performance patterns should they look for?
Job hugging isn’t loud, it's subtle and can be disguised as loyalty, until innovation slows down and movement inside the company and team/department becomes static.
Here's what to look for:
- You will see employees turning down promotions or reluctant to take on opportunities they are more than ready for. Not because they lack ambition but because the risk feels bigger than the reward.
- Their performance is steady but flat. They do the work, They deliver, you can depend on them, but there is no innovation, no thinking differently. Not because they’re disengaged but because they’re holding onto what is predictable.
- Listen carefully in check-ins and stay interviews, You’ll hear phrases like; I'm not sure if this is the right time to move or I just don’t want to lose what I have.
- Innovation slows down. Fewer new ideas, employees become over reliant on how things used to be.
- Fewer applications for open vacancies.
- Their engagement starts to decline for anything that is not directly job-related.
Q: What are the biggest risks of widespread job hugging to leadership pipelines and organisational growth?
It slows down growth and the leadership pipeline starts to thin out. When employees cling onto their jobs out of fear, they’re not stepping into new roles, that means fewer internal successors. The company becomes completely reliant on external hires, which adds costs and onboarding delays.
When employees stay in the same position for too long, teams get stuck creating bottlenecks in critical roles, which may hinder the growth for junior employees.
It delays innovation, employees do what feels safe. Because they operate from fear, they don’t take risks, they repeat what they already know.
Lastly, the team may become over dependent on those who do stretch which causes burnout of the top talent, and suddenly the strongest team members are overextended.
Q: How do psychological fatigue and financial stress intersect to reinforce job hugging behaviour?
When someone is drained, their focus shifts from growth to survival. In that position, even an incredible career opportunity can look like another demand, more unknown and more emotional load. So people stay, not because they are not ambitious but because they are tired.
Financial stress makes every risk feel even bigger. Leaving a role even for more money may feel scary because of the stability of the current role. With all the expenses and economic pressures, debt etc, the fear of stepping into a probation period, being the new person in the team, becomes quite scary and can cause resistance to taking on a new opportunity.
Together, it's the perfect conditions for job hugging, they anchor people to the familiar.
Q: How can CHROs strengthen trust and psychological safety so employees feel secure enough to take risks or explore growth opportunities?
The CHROs can take the lead in this, however this requires effort from all. From the people managers to the employees themselves.
CHROs can:
- Encourage regular meaningful 1:1 check-ins with managers and their team members. This simple yet effective process gets overlooked. Done properly it shows employees that you care, that you are invested in them and their contribution makes a difference to the company.
- Train your leaders to be coaches, train them to listen, encourage and support more than being task focused.
- Create growth paths and learning opportunities that feel safe, offer stretch tasks or learning opportunities that are clear and supported.
- Clarify company vision and mission, ensure employees know why their role is important, how it contributes to the company and overall purpose.
- Conduct stay interviews, understanding what's important to people and what would make them stay, what keeps them motivated.
