In 2021, the workplace experienced what many of us will never forget: The Great Resignation. Nearly 55 million people changed jobs, reassessed their priorities, and walked away from roles that no longer aligned with their lives. Employees were rethinking everything: flexibility, purpose, pay, leadership, burnout, and respect. For HR professionals, it was a wake-up call that engagement, culture, and listening were no longer “nice to have.” They were survival skills.

Then came 2022, often referred to as The Great Reconsideration. After the mass exits of the prior year, many employees slowed down and became more intentional. People were not just quitting impulsively anymore. They were evaluating long term stability, benefits, career growth, and leadership quality before making moves. HR began seeing deeper interview questions, longer decision cycles, and candidates looking for sustainability, not just higher salaries.

By 2023, we started hearing more about The Great Reshuffle. Employees continued to move, but this time strategically. Internal mobility increased, lateral moves became more common, and skills, not titles, started driving career decisions. Organizations that invested in upskilling, reskilling, and internal development fared far better than those relying only on external hiring. HR was no longer just filling jobs. It was designing career pathways.

In 2024, the phrase that dominated conversations was Quiet Quitting. In reality, many employees were not quitting at all. They were setting boundaries. Doing their jobs, but not absorbing unrealistic workloads, unpaid emotional labor, or constant urgency. For HR, this was less about disengagement and more about exhaustion, psychological safety, and years of cumulative burnout finally surfacing. It forced organizations to confront management practices that had gone unquestioned for too long.

By 2025, the tone shifted again with Job Hugging becoming the popular term. In a climate of economic uncertainty, restructuring, AI disruption, and cautious hiring, employees began holding tightly to the jobs they had. Even unhappy employees stayed put, valuing stability over risk. HR professionals saw fewer voluntary resignations, longer tenure in misaligned roles, and an undercurrent of anxiety beneath the surface. Retention numbers looked better, but engagement required closer attention.

So what about 2026? While no single phrase has officially claimed the year yet, the trend appears to be moving toward Intentional Staying or Strategic Belonging. Employees are likely to remain in roles longer, but only where trust, growth, transparency, and humane leadership exist. For HR, 2026 will not be about chasing trends. It will be about rebuilding confidence, strengthening leadership capability, and creating workplaces where people stay not because they are afraid to leave, but because they genuinely want to remain.

The real question now is what HR leaders will do differently in 2026 to move their organizations toward Intentional Staying and Strategic Belonging.

Elga Lejarza

Founder & CEO

HRTrainingClasses.com

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