Some job categories exhibit mobility patterns, and if HR can identify those patterns, it can respond with tailored strategies, according to a June 10 report from Indeed’s Hiring Lab.
Specifically, it said, employers with high-mobility occupations may need to focus on attraction and onboarding, while those with low-mobility occupations may benefit more from internal development and retention strategies.
Job hopping provides market insights
About 2.6% of Indeed users with an uploaded resume switch to a new job every month, and nearly two-thirds of them change to a new occupational category, according to Indeed; additionally, attrition rates tend to be higher in occupations with weaker labor demand and lower salaries.
“Job-to-job moves account for most new hires and play a crucial role in reallocating talent to where it’s most needed, and the rate at which workers move between jobs can tell us a lot about the labor market,” wrote Lisa Feist and Luke Young, researchers for the Indeed Hiring Lab.
“High levels of inflows resulting from job-to-job transitions, both within and across occupational lines, can indicate strong hiring activity and economic momentum, high demand, and/or low barriers to mobility within certain job categories,” they wrote. “And in some cases, high turnover may be driven by lower job security and short job durations.”
Mobility varies by role
Based on data from more than 35 million Indeed profiles in the U.S. between 2022 and 2024, jobs in loading and stocking had the highest rate of job switchers, with about 1 in 30 positions filled each month by someone coming from another job.
In contrast, media and communications roles appeared to be more stable, with about 1 in 60 jobs filled by someone coming from somewhere else.
Lower-paying fields, such as retail, loading and stocking and food preparation, had relatively high job switching. Higher-paying fields, such as media and communications, beauty and wellness, arts and entertainment and management, had lower rates.
Notably, nursing and software development seemed to be “closed off” to job switchers from other occupations, Indeed said. Two-thirds of people switching into a nursing job previously worked in nursing, and 55% of those switching into a software development role did the same.
On the other hand, hospitality and tourism, retail and loading and stocking were more open to job switchers with other experience, including 88% in hospitality and tourism, 74% in retail and 69% in loading and stocking. These employers rely more heavily on external talent pools to fill monthly vacancies due to high turnover and attrition, Feist and Young wrote.