Employees May Stay - But Are They Engaged? Leading Through the Age of Great Uncertainty - What an Empirical Study Reveals

We are living through an age of great uncertainty. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and geopolitical conflicts, shifting foreign and immigration policies, economic volatility, artificial intelligence, climate change, and natural disasters have continued to affect how people view their lives and careers. Yet, most employees have little or no control over these events. 

Such uncertainty is also reshaping workplace behavior. During the Great Resignation, many employees felt confident enough to leave an unsatisfactory job. Later, “quiet quitting” described employees who remained employed but did no more than their formal job requirements. Now, another trend has emerged: “job hugging.” Concerned about layoffs, economic instability, AI-driven job displacement, or limited career opportunities, some employees are holding tightly to their existing positions, even when they are not particularly satisfied.

At first glance, job hugging may seem like good news for employers. Lower turnover can reduce staffing shortages and recruitment costs. Nevertheless, employers should not mistake staying for engagement. Employees may remain because leaving feels too risky, not because they feel committed to their organization or inspired to contribute.

 

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2026, only 20% of employees worldwide were engaged in 2025, the lowest level since 2020. Even in the United States and Canada, the engagement rate was only 31%.

 

A stable workforce, therefore, does not necessarily indicate a healthy workplace. Employees may be hugging their jobs while psychologically distancing themselves from their organizations.

 

What Do Employees Expect from Working Hard?

 

Our recently published study (with Drs. Yung-Kuei Huang and Ning-Kuang Chuang), “Engaging Employees Amidst Uncertainty: Unraveling the Power of Outcome Expectations in Nurturing Dutiful Employees,” offers useful insights into this challenge.

 

Using data from 231 service-sector employees in the United States, we examined how employees’ expectations about the outcomes of working diligently were associated with their sense of duty and, ultimately, their emotional and behavioral engagement. We considered three categories of expected outcomes:

• Material outcomes,* such as achieving work-life balance, having flexibility or options in one’s career, and being able to support one’s desired lifestyle;
• Social outcomes, such as fair opportunities, respect, recognition, and belonging; and
• Self-evaluation outcomes, such as personal growth, accomplishment, and pride.

We also examined three forms of duty orientation: duty to organizational members, duty to the organizational mission, and duty to organizational codes or standards.
 

Positive Expectations Can Nurture Duty and Engagement

 

Our findings reveal that the three types of outcome expectations operate differently.

 

Social outcome expectations had the broadest relationship with duty orientation. When employees believed that working diligently would help them gain respect, build positive relationships, and experience belonging, they reported stronger duties to organizational members, the mission, and organizational codes.

 

Self-evaluation expectations were associated with duty to members and duty to mission. Employees who believed that working hard would bring personal accomplishment, growth, or pride were more likely to feel responsible for helping others and advancing the organization’s larger purpose.

 

Material outcome expectations operated more narrowly. They were primarily associated with duty to organizational codes. While employees value work-life balance, career flexibility, and a lifestyle supported by their work, expectations of these outcomes were not associated with a broader sense of responsibility toward colleagues or the organizational mission. 

 

Duty orientation, in turn, was connected with meaningful forms of engagement. Employees with a stronger sense of duty toward coworkers and the mission were more likely to feel enthusiastic and energized and to demonstrate greater attention, effort, persistence, and initiative at work.

 

The results reveal an important pattern: employees’ engagement is shaped not only by what they expect to gain from work but also by the responsibility they feel toward others and the organization.

 

What Happens Under Uncertainty?

 

Interestingly, uncertainty did not significantly disrupt most of the relationships in our model. The connections involving social and self-evaluation expectations remained relatively stable.

 

Only one moderating relationship was significant: uncertainty weakened the association between material outcome expectations and duty to codes. When employees experience greater uncertainty, believing that diligent work will help them achieve work-life balance, career flexibility, or a desired lifestyle may be less likely to strengthen their sense of obligation to follow organizational standards. 

 

By contrast, the relationships involving social and self-evaluation outcomes remained stable. Respectful relationships, belonging, recognition, personal accomplishment, and opportunities for growth may continue to nurture employees’ sense of duty even during uncertain times. 

 

Organizations should therefore not assume that retention, desirable working conditions, or quality-of-life benefits alone will keep employees psychologically connected. These outcomes may give employees reasons to remain with an organization, but they may not be sufficient to inspire enthusiasm, commitment, or discretionary effort.

 

What Can Employers Control?

 

Employers cannot end geopolitical conflicts, eliminate economic uncertainty, control government policies, prevent every natural disaster, or predict the next technological disruption. They can, however, influence employees’ experiences inside the organization. Several practical actions deserve attention:

• Communicate honestly and consistently. Leaders should explain what is known, what remains uncertain, and how the organization is responding. They should also avoid making promises they may not be able to fulfill.
• Strengthen employees’ sense of belonging. Respectful treatment, supportive supervision, teamwork, and inclusion can reinforce the belief that employees’ efforts will produce meaningful social outcomes.
• Recognize employees’ contributions. Timely and sincere acknowledgment can assure employees that their work is seen and valued.
• Make development opportunities visible. Coaching, mentoring, cross-training, and stretch assignments can promote personal growth, even when immediate promotions are unavailable.
• Provide meaningful flexibility and support work-life balance. Employees are more likely to anticipate positive material outcomes* when work arrangements provide them with reasonable control, career options, and opportunities to pursue their desired lifestyle. Employers must ensure, however, that these expectations are supported by employees’ actual work experiences. 
• Connect daily work with the mission. Employees should be able to see how their work benefits customers, coworkers, and the broader community.
• Support duty without exploiting it. Organizations should not continually ask their most committed employees to do more with fewer resources. A sustainable sense of duty must be reciprocated with fairness, support, and care.

Give Employees Reasons to Engage

 

In an age of great uncertainty, more employees may choose safety over mobility. For employers, however, retaining employees physically is not the same as engaging them emotionally and behaviorally.

 

Job hugging can keep employees in the organization. It cannot guarantee enthusiasm, collaboration, initiative, or exceptional service.

 

Leaders cannot control everything that makes employees feel uncertain. They can create workplaces where employees feel respected, recognized, supported, and able to grow. They can offer working conditions that support employees’ lives and careers. They can also help employees understand why their work matters. During uncertain times, these may be among the strongest reasons for employees not only to stay, but also to engage.

 

* We adopted the established outcome-expectation scale used in the literature. In that scale, “material outcomes” refer primarily to quality-of-life and career-related benefits, such as work-life balance, career flexibility and options, and the ability to support one’s desired lifestyle. They are conceptually distinct from direct monetary rewards, compensation, or other financial benefits. 

Note: This picture was generated on ChatGPT.