Just a few years ago, employers were grappling with the sudden, sweeping exodus of workers dubbed “The Great Resignation.” In a job market flipped upside down by the pandemic, employees were leaving in droves—burned out, disillusioned, or simply rethinking what work should look like.
But as we step into the second half of 2025, the tide has turned dramatically.
Welcome to The Great Stay.
Workers aren’t job-hopping like they used to. Voluntary quits are down. Open roles are taking longer to fill—but not because of candidate churn. In fact, it’s because many candidates are staying put, even when they’re unhappy. For hiring managers, that shift brings both new challenges and new opportunities.
And in case you think The Great Stay is already over, that is not the case. In April of this year, Forbes.com confirmed the fact that The Great Stay is, in fact, alive and well.
Let’s unpack what’s happening—and what you should be doing about it.
From Resignation to Retention: A Brief Timeline
To understand The Great Stay, we need to trace the road that led us here:
2021–2022: The Great Resignation
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a massive shift in priorities. Millions of workers reevaluated their careers, work environments, and life goals. In the U.S. alone, more than 47 million people quit their jobs in 2021—a historic high.
Knowledge workers left to pursue remote flexibility. Frontline workers burned out under pressure. Older professionals opted for early retirement. Employers scrambled to offer perks, bonuses, and flexibility to stem the tide.
2023: The Great Reshuffle
Many of those who left didn’t leave the workforce—they switched roles or industries. The job market was still candidate-driven. Companies focused on recruitment at any cost, while internal retention efforts lagged behind.
Job-hopping became normalized. High performers had options—and they weren’t afraid to use them.
2024–2025: The Great Stay
Then the economy shifted. Interest rates climbed. Tech layoffs made headlines. Market uncertainty grew. And suddenly, a new sentiment emerged across the workforce:
‘Better the devil you know.’
Fewer people are quitting. Many are staying not because they’re thriving—but because they’re cautious. Economists have noted the slowdown in job switching, citing not just economic pressure, but “career fatigue” and risk aversion.
According to CNBC, by late 2024, the quit rate in the U.S. dropped to its lowest level since 2020. Data from WhatJobs shows that workers are increasingly sticking with their current roles, even if they’re unfulfilled or underpaid.
Welcome to The Great Stay—where employees feel stuck, companies feel stagnant, and hiring managers must rethink how to build great teams.
Why Are Employees Staying Put?
The reasons behind The Great Stay are complex—but clear:
1. Economic Uncertainty
Layoffs across tech and finance sectors, along with ongoing inflation and global instability, have made workers wary. They’re less willing to risk jumping to a new role, especially if their current job offers stability.
2. Labor Market Saturation
After the hiring frenzy of 2021–2023, many roles are now harder to land. Top-tier jobs are receiving a flood of applications, and hiring has slowed. Workers are staying in place until the market opens back up.
3. “Switcher’s Remorse”
Not every pandemic-era job move paid off. Many workers found that the grass wasn’t greener. Culture clashes, return-to-office mandates, or overhyped startup dreams led to disappointment. They’re now more cautious and less eager to leap again.
4. Mental Burnout
Years of chaos—from remote transitions to company reorganizations—have left many employees emotionally exhausted. Changing jobs feels like another heavy lift. Instead, they’re defaulting to inertia.
What the Great Stay Means for Hiring Managers
If people are staying in their jobs, that’s good for retention, right?
Not necessarily.
The Great Stay isn’t always driven by satisfaction—it’s often rooted in fear or fatigue. Workers may be quietly disengaged, resentful, or unmotivated. According to a Fortune report, many employees are “stuck” in roles they no longer enjoy, but don’t feel confident enough to leave. That’s a retention risk waiting to happen.
Here’s what hiring managers need to watch for—and how to adapt.
1. Engaged ≠ Retained
Don’t mistake employee longevity for loyalty. Someone can stay at your company for years and still be mentally checked out.
In the era of The Great Stay, your job isn’t just to keep employees, it’s to engage them. Retention without engagement leads to underperformance, team toxicity, and missed innovation.
Action step: Conduct stay interviews—not just exit interviews. Ask:
- What keeps you here?
- What might tempt you to leave?
- How can we better support your career goals?
This insight gives you a chance to re-engage before it’s too late.
2. Career Pathing Is More Important Than Ever
People may not be quitting, but that doesn’t mean they’re happy standing still.
A major driver of job dissatisfaction today is the feeling of stagnation. During the pandemic, many workers put their ambitions on hold. Now, they’re ready to grow—but companies haven’t always kept up.
Action step: Collaborate with employees to build individualized career development plans. Outline the skills they need to grow, the support they’ll receive, and the timelines they can expect.
Even if promotions aren’t immediately available, clarity around growth makes people feel seen and valued.
3. Internal Mobility Is Your Best Hiring Tool
In a “stay” environment, your future hires may already be in the building.
As external recruiting slows, savvy hiring managers are investing in internal mobility—shifting talent within the organization to meet new needs, offer growth, and retain institutional knowledge.
Action step: Partner with HR to build visibility into internal job openings. Encourage employees to apply. Create pathways that make transitions smoother—from training to team onboarding.
Internal hires ramp up faster, stay longer, and contribute deeper value over time.
4. The Cost of Stagnation Is High
Here’s the irony of The Great Stay: even though workers aren’t leaving, hiring challenges persist.
When people stay in roles they’ve outgrown or no longer enjoy, it hurts productivity and morale. It slows innovation. It discourages top performers. And over time, it damages employer brand.
Action step: Proactively assess team fit, energy, and output. Are there employees who need a new challenge? A chance to lead? A different team?
Use The Great Stay as a window to rethink, not just retain.
5. Transparency Wins Trust
In a world where employees are “staying by default,” the best hiring managers know that clarity builds commitment.
Ambiguity about compensation, role expectations, or performance metrics fuels disengagement. Transparency, on the other hand, builds trust—and trust keeps people invested.
Action step: Revisit job descriptions, career ladders, and feedback processes. Make sure your team knows what’s expected, how they’re doing, and where they can go next.
When employees feel informed, they’re more likely to stay for the right reasons.
What About External Hiring?
Even with more workers staying put, hiring has not gotten easier. In fact, it has gotten more nuanced.
Passive candidates are truly passive right now. They are not browsing job boards or answering recruiter messages like they used to. To attract top talent in the Great Stay era, hiring managers need to shift strategies.
Here is how:
1. Make the Risk Worth It
Leaving a job in 2025 feels like a gamble. Candidates want to know that it is worth the leap.
Action step: Focus on your value proposition. What will this new role offer that they cannot get where they are? Consider:
- Long-term growth potential
- Mission-driven work
- Psychological safety
- Flexible structure
- Innovative tech or tools
Make it personal. Make it meaningful.
2. Strengthen Your Talent Brand
In a stay-driven market, reputation matters more than ever. Candidates are researching employers thoroughly before even considering a move.
Action step: Partner with your marketing team or employer branding lead. Encourage your current team to share authentic stories on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, or company blogs. Highlight what makes your culture resilient and rewarding.
3. Build Relationships Before You Need Them
Great hires are not made in a rush. In The Great Stay, talent pipelines must be built before a role opens up.
Action step: Stay in regular contact with promising candidates, even if you are not hiring yet. Invite them to events, share company news, and keep the relationship alive.
When the time is right, they’ll already trust you—and that shortens the hiring cycle.
The Great Opportunity Inside The Great Stay
While The Great Stay might seem like a lull in movement, it is actually a golden opportunity for strategic hiring managers.
This moment invites you to:
- Rethink retention
- Reinvigorate internal teams
- Attract cautious, high-quality talent
- Focus on purpose, not just perks
Because here’s the truth: People aren’t staying just for a paycheck anymore. They are staying for meaning, growth, flexibility, and trust. And if they are not getting it, they are not really staying—they’re just waiting.
Hiring managers who recognize this can reshape the workforce of the future—one intentional conversation at a time.
The Great Resignation taught us how fast things can change. The Great Stay reminds us that career decisions are more than just economic—they’re deeply emotional.
As a hiring manager, your job isn’t just to fill seats.
It’s to create reasons for people to stay—and thrive—on purpose.
We invite you to find out more about our Veterinary recruiting services for employers and also learn more about our recruiting process and how we can help you hire more veterinarians in 2025.
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1. By helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2. By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of Animal Health and Veterinary organizations. If this is something that you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.