Job Hugging

Americans are clinging to their roles or accepting positions they are overqualified for amid fears over the employment market

- by HUGH CAMERON

UNCERTAINTY Some 59 percent of professionals have been told that they are overqualified for a role, the report found.

CONCERNS OVER A SOFTENING labor market are prompting many Americans to cling on to their jobs, with some accepting lower salaries, while others are willing to take roles below their level of experience.

Research by TopResume found that 66 percent of U.S. professionals could be classified as “job huggers”—sticking to their role out of financial necessity, and being anxious about leaving due to a lack of opportunities elsewhere.

Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of those surveyed were willing to take a job for which they were overqualified and 26 percent had already done so, while 75 percent said they would take a pay cut to keep their job, with 16 percent having accepted one.