A few years ago, job seekers were the ones in demand and that gave them the ability to hop around to different jobs in order to make more money, have leverage, and get more experiences. But that job markets has since become frozen and stagnant, leading to what many are calling a job situationship.
What is a ‘Situationship’?
The term ‘situationship’ came about in around 2017 to describe a style of relationship that many find very uncomfortable. It’s usually a relationship that lasts roughly three months long (may be more or less depending on the relationship) where one person is far more committed to the relationship than the other person and is characterized as being fairly painful. It can be seen as a form of unrequited relationship, though both sides are in the relationship, but one person doesn’t care as much as the other. They’re just in it until something else comes along.
A Situationship in Work
In 2025, economists for Glassdoor began applying that term to the labor market. It generally describes workers who take jobs because they need a paycheck. They don’t care about the job very much, they didn’t really want it, but they needed the money. It’s better than nothing. This has been the case for a long time for many people – we call them ‘survival jobs’, but in the last year or so, the rate of employees identifying themselves as being in this sort of job has massively risen. According to findings by a Glassdoor researcher Chris Martin, 93% of surveyed employees are staying in jobs they don’t love but stay anyway for the stability. And 74% of employees said it was impossible to love any job in 2026. They are all just white knuckling it, hoping not to be part of the massive statistic of layoffs and growing more resentful as a result.
Job Hugging
Situationships in the workplace has also been referred to as job-hugging. In other words, more people are ‘hugging’ their jobs (or holding them very tightly) even to the point of strangling themselves. And while we fully understand the strong temptation to stay put for as long as possible, especially in this economy, it’s important to understand what impact staying in a job you don’t care for might be having on your mental health.
Let me take you back.
In 2014, my husband worked at the local casino as a security guard. He had worked there for nearly ten years (it would be 10 years when he quit) and he had reached his ceiling in terms of earning potential. In fact, due to taxes, it was more cost effective for him to work less. He couldn’t go anywhere in his position unless he wanted to be a supervisor which would have come with a miniscule pay bump and a lot more responsibilities that he wanted nothing to do with. It was a high stress, low pay job that he felt stuck in. As a result, resentment built, stress built, and we all felt very stagnant.
He did end up quitting and going back to school and completely switching careers. But for that last year before leaving, it was rough. His mental health was being slowly eroded by the tedium of a job that was leading nowhere.
This isn’t unique. In 2025-2026, 65% of workers surveyed in a Glassdoor study feel stuck in their current positions (upwards of 73% of those in tech roles). They are too scared to leave because the job market is frozen, but they resent having to stay. This leads to disengagement at work, a loss of productivity and a decline in overall mental health. It can also lead to resenting yourself (as my husband did) and may be noticed by your boss which could lead to you being fired.
So, what can be done about this? After all, there’s not getting away from the fact that the cost of living is increasing seemingly on a weekly basis, the job market is on ice, and everyone is struggling. Well, there are a few things you can do to keep yourself from getting completely frozen:
- Side hustles. Side hustles are still very much a thing as a way to make some extra income and get experience. It’s important to carefully manage your time if you’re doing side hustles though and choose hustles that you enjoy doing.
- Education. Now isn’t a terrible time to beef up your education. There are grants, scholarships, loans, and other tools to help you pay for it and getting up to date certifications or even a degree can help you get a better job in the same or a different field.
- Beef up your soft skills. You don’t have to let yourself get stagnant in your current job. Look at opportunities to practice and improve skills like problem solving, communication and conflict resolution, keep an eye on internal hiring, and push yourself to take on projects or small jobs that take you out of your comfort zone.
- Passive job search. You can still passively job search and apply to things that seem appealing. Don’t quit your current job without something firm in hand to replace it, but there’s nothing preventing you from looking.
Job security and stability are important now because of how troublesome the current economy is, but you don’t have to let yourself get frozen solid. Keep learning, keep looking for your passion, and keep trying new things. Good luck!
