Job hugging is not reluctance – it is discernment

New labels for how candidates are behaving in the job market crop up all the time. The latest is “job hugging” – the idea that professionals are staying in their current roles rather than pursuing something new. While it is a convenient shorthand, it does not fully explain what’s driving candidate behaviour. It suggests professionals are staying put by default, when in fact their decisions are currently far more deliberate.

Michael Page’s Talent Trends 2026 research found that half of UK professionals are actively looking for their next role, rising to 76% among those who are unhappy where they are. The talent is in motion. Whatʼs changed is how deliberately candidates are moving. That deliberation is often misread as disengagement, but it isn’t. Almost half of professionals, 46%, say developing new skills or expertise is a key priority, and 41% are actively building them through training or qualifications.

Where candidates hesitate, it tends to be for practical reasons: 44% say they would fear sacrificing work-life balance to accept a new role. That’s a workforce weighing things up carefully, and being clear about what would make a move worthwhile.

It is also worth remembering how competitive parts of this market remain. Where skills are genuinely scarce, the strongest candidates – those pairing deep technical ability with communication and judgement – are anything but reluctant. They often have several conversations running at once, and they move quickly when an employer is clear about the role and the progression attached to it.

It helps to know what’s actually prompting candidates to start looking elsewhere. Pay remains the single biggest factor, cited by 32% of professionals, but it’s far from the whole story: 27% would move for the chance of a promotion, 26% cite frustration with senior leadership decisions, 22% a culture that no longer fits, and 17% simple boredom in their role. Progression, leadership and culture combined outweigh pay by some distance – so employers treating this as a pay question alone are only solving part of the problem.

For employers, that points to where the real opportunity sits. If nearly half of candidates are focused on building new skills and expertise, it makes sense that roles framed around capability – rather than a checklist of credentials – are the ones resonating with them. This is what is also drives the UKʼs trend towards skills-based hiring. For many organisations, this means assessing candidates on what they can actually do – often through task-based exercises or interviews structured around capability – rather than relying on CVs and defaulting to a list of qualifications or job titles.

It also means being more explicit in job adverts about the skills a role genuinely requires. That is why two thirds of UK organisations, 66%, now use it, and 58% of candidates say they’re more likely to apply when a role is framed this way.

Separately, that same clarity should extend to what a role and business actually offer beyond the day-to-day – the progression on the table, and the culture and values candidates would be joining. Candidates weighing a move this carefully will disengage quickly from anything that stays vague on either front. Employers who are upfront on skills, progression and culture alike are the ones best placed to convert interest into an offer accepted. Pay still has its part to play, but on its own it is rarely enough to win over candidates this discerning.