The States Where Workers Are Most Afraid To Quit
Right now, one of the biggest issues workers are facing is the fear of leaving a job they no longer want.
A new study by digital business card provider Wave Connect found that 60% of employees feel stuck. In some states, people are clinging to jobs they openly dislike because the alternative feels even riskier.
This study looked at how likely workers are to stay in jobs they don’t like by measuring a few factors. They considered how often people quit, how many layoffs happen, how many jobs are open, and how engaged employees feel. In addition, the study factored in online search rates for signs these workers might want to leave their job. All of these factors were indexed together into the Job Hugging Score, which ranks each state based on how trapped its workers feel.
“The labor market used to reward people who switched jobs every few years with better pay and titles. But it seems it’s no longer working like that,” says George El-Hage, Founder & CEO of Wave Connect. “Now, if you quit, you’re competing with hundreds of other applicants for the same opening…many people feel all this, so they decide to stay, even when they feel miserable.”
TOP 10 STATES WHERE WORKERS FEAR LEAVING THEIR JOBS MOST
| Rank | State | Quit Rate (%) | Layoff Rate (%) | Job Openings (%) | Employee Engagement Rate (%) | Job Concern Search Interest | Job Hugging Score |
| 1 | Massachusetts | 1.4 | 1 | 3.3 | 29 | 28 | 100 |
| 2 | New York | 1.5 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 29 | 19 | 98 |
| 3 | Vermont | 2.5 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 33 | 99 | 94 |
| 4 | Rhode Island | 1.9 | 1.4 | 4.3 | 31 | 72 | 93 |
| 5 | Washington | 1.7 | 1 | 3.2 | 30 | 37 | 91 |
| 6 | Connecticut | 1.7 | 1.2 | 3.8 | 31 | 46 | 86 |
| 7 | New Jersey | 1.5 | 0.9 | 3.7 | 29 | 19 | 86 |
| 8 | New Hampshire | 2.1 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 34 | 72 | 84 |
| 9 | Illinois | 2 | 1 | 3.4 | 30 | 28 | 77 |
| 10 | California | 1.5 | 1.3 | 3.2 | 33 | 19 | 75 |
At the top of the list is Massachusetts, where only 1.4% of workers quit despite extremely low engagement and limited job openings. New York follows closely, with equally disengaged workers and a higher layoff rate that likely keeps people from making a move. Vermont landed in third, driven mostly by anxiety. Each year, Vermont’s residents search job‑fear phrases more than anyone else, and they face one of the highest layoff rates in the country.
Looking beyond the top three, a few states stand out for different reasons. Rhode Island and New Hampshire show high levels of job‑related worry even though their quit rates aren’t anything significant. People in these two states feel anxious about their jobs, but they don’t seem to be leaving much more than others in the other top ten states.
Washington and Illinois have relatively low layoff rates but still rank high overall, which shows that fear isn’t always tied to actual job loss. It can come from low engagement or a lack of mobility. Also, despite California’s massive economy, this state still lands in the top 10 which shows that even employees in big job markets can feel stagnant.
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