The Great Stability: 4 Ways to Get the Most Out of Work’s New Trend

Coming soon to a workplace near you: The Great Stability.

(Ideally, it’s coming to your workplace.)

New research from the Adecco Group found employees prioritize job security, fair pay and long-term stability over job-hopping. They’ve embraced job hugging, as we reported earlier.

But here’s what’s more interesting: Fifty-two percent of employees in Adecco’s Workforce Trends 2025 Report said they’d stick with their employers without new, special or better conditions, up from 49% two years ago. Employees are learning to love the stability of their jobs, rather than chasing a bigger paycheck.

Great Stability: Why Employees Stay Where They Are

Why do people suddenly seek stability? The Adecco researchers noted: “In the wake of job market instability and economic uncertainty, workers are looking for a job that sustains their way of life, offering them the ultimate in work-life integration. Today, stability is more important than deriving a sense of personal fulfilment from work.”

Specifically, here are the top six reasons people said they stay at their jobs:

• I am happy with my work/life balance
• I am happy with the company culture
• I am happy with my salary
• I am happy with the flexibility in my current job, and
• I am happy with the upskill/training in my current job.

“Flexibility, fulfilment and culture still matter, but they are no longer enough on their own,” the researchers noted.

What Employees Value Most Now

Employees’ priorities have shifted in the past couple of years, partly because the pandemic has settled and partly because the economy and society have become unsettled.

“The world of work is at a pivotal moment. The workforce is sending a clear message: people want stability, fair pay and real opportunities to grow,” said Denis Machuel, Chief Executive Officer of the Adecco Group.

The Adecco report found that these shifts in what workers value stood out most. Employees:

• Prioritize security over personal fulfilment: Stable income and job security overtook personal fulfillment as the top reasons people stuck with their jobs. Why? People face uncertainty outside of work. They need stability when it comes to the workplace.
• Want tailored flexibility: They still demand flexibility, but it’s not the same for everyone, so employers might find it easier to adapt to their needs. The researchers found leaders prioritize where they work, while junior workers focus on when they work.
• Expect fair and transparent salaries. The researchers found that blue-collar workers are more confident that they receive a fair salary than white-collar workers believe they do. But both expect transparency in salary.
• Want to grow within their organization, but … there’s a significant disconnect with their employers. More than 60% of organizations struggle to transition employees into new internal roles. There’s room to create more internal mobility through more skills gap analysis.

What Companies Can Do

Of course, employees aren’t going to stay forever just for the sake of stability. They will still need more to stay engaged as their careers and lives evolve.

“Purpose remains crucial, but people demand security during these times of constant change. When we put job stability, workforce agility, and inclusion at the heart of our strategy, we don’t just keep up with change – we lead it,” said Machuel. “The future belongs to organizations that lead with empathy, that listen, adapt and make every worker feel valued and those who invest to accompany their people to stay ahead of the change curve.”

Here are four strategies to keep employees engaged and thriving through and beyond the Great Stability:

• Focus on upskilling and internal mobility: The Adecco report found that many companies struggled to transition employees into new roles despite having people in-house who were capable of taking on new or different responsibilities. Why? They found a lack of visibility and tools. In some cases, though, employees told researchers that they were increasingly taking control of their own development by learning to use AI and investing more in their skills. This is a key area for organizations to improve: Invest in training opportunities for employees to learn skills that will help them fill the roles you need within your organization, rather than looking outside the company to fill.
• Create an environment where employees thrive: The vast majority of employees would choose a company committed to inclusion, well-being, sustainability and purpose. Those are all central to the talent equation. Yet, the Adecco study found that satisfaction with employers’ societal commitments remains low. Emphasize the mental well-being support and measurable inclusion efforts you offer to build trust and retain your talent going forward.
• Personalize flexibility around “when and how,” not just “where.” Some things to consider:
  • Move beyond generic flex policies. Give teams options to choose how they work with schedule flexibility, core hours, compressed weeks or shift-swapping — especially for roles that can’t be fully remote
  • Let employees co-design team-level norms (meeting-free blocks, response-time expectations, handoff rules), which increases a sense of control, and
  • Tie flexibility to clear performance outcomes.
• Build a real employee voice-to-action loop. Try short, frequent pulse checks and listening sessions focused on what makes people want to stay  — such as workload, manager support, recognition, flexibility — not just satisfaction. Then, close the loop quickly with “you said, we did” updates so employees see concrete changes to policies, tools or processes within weeks.