Dive Brief:
- The U.S. is experiencing a decade-low quit rate of 2% as workers hold onto their jobs, not necessarily because they love their work, but out of fear of losing job security, according to findings released Monday by Economist Enterprise. That can have real costs for employers, experts say.
- Economic anxiety has workers approaching their careers with caution instead of confidence, “with 62% choosing long-term job security over seeking out new opportunities,” per the report.
- In addition, 30% of workers said they have stopped looking for new opportunities over the past five years due to concerns about job security.
Dive Insight:
The research found that job-seeking hesitation resulting from job security concerns was especially pronounced in certain sectors, including financial services and insurance and manufacturing. Meanwhile, only 23% of government employees said they paused their job search for that reason.
“America’s workers are prioritizing job stability and a strong benefits package, signaling a shift in how workers weigh risk versus reward in today’s competitive labor market,” Matt Terry, who led the research at Economist Enterprise, said in a statement. “This cautious approach reflects a broader trend: workers are increasingly valuing predictability over advancement, which could have lasting implications for career growth and economic mobility.”
Respondents also said they’re expecting to retire nearly four years later than originally planned. Only 20% of workers who said they expect to work past their ideal retirement age cited job satisfaction as the primary reason. Instead, they said rising living costs and healthcare expenses were the primary reasons they plan to delay.
The gap was larger for lower-income workers, who said they expected to retire about six years later than their ideal age.
The report also found that anxiety over retirement started early, with even Generation Z workers saying they expect to delay their retirement by an average of five years, despite the fact that many only just entered the workforce.
Retirement delays may be driven in part by workers pulling from their retirement savings and deferring major life milestones to manage expenses now, per the report; it found that 35% of respondents took hardship withdrawals or loans from their retirement accounts at some point.
Meanwhile, 30% of all respondents and 36% of high-income workers said they had cut back on retirement savings. Seventy-three percent of workers said they postponed buying a home or car, with that number jumping to 82% for millennials.
Financial concerns have also impacted healthcare, with 43% of workers saying they delayed or skipped medical care to avoid costs, and 25% said they postponed having children.
The findings were based on late 2025 responses from more than 2,000 full-time employed adults in the U.S. working at organizations with at least 1,000 employees. The independent research and analysis was conducted by Economist Enterprise, formerly Economist Impact, and supported by Nuveen Retirement Investing.
“The data in this report should give every employer pause,” Brendan McCarthy, head of Nuveen Retirement Investing, said in a statement. “When workers feel financially insecure, they delay retirement, and that has real costs — both administrative and financial — for organizations carrying expensive, experienced employees who are ready to move on but don’t believe they can afford to.”