For years, changing jobs was the best way to get a raise. But that trend appears to be cooling off. According to new data from the Bank of America Institute, people who jump from one employer to another are no longer seeing the same kind of pay boosts they once did.
Job-hopping worked because employers were willing to pay more to lure in new talent, especially when there were worker shortages. Switching jobs often meant skipping the usual slow climb of annual raises and jumping straight to a better salary.
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However, the report says that “Job hoppers are no longer getting a big bump in pay,” noting that median raises for people who switch jobs fell to around 7% in July. That’s a steep drop from the more than 20% increases seen during the height of the Great Resignation in 2022. It also puts job switcher pay gains below 2019 levels.
For the first time since 2010, people who stay in their current roles are earning raises on par with those who switch jobs.
The report points out that the labor market is no longer as tight as it once was, which is shifting the balance of power back toward employers. Companies facing economic uncertainty and trade-related slowdowns are cutting back on hiring and investment, resulting in fewer lucrative offers for new hires.
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Tariffs may be playing a larger role than some expected. The report notes that a pullback in business investment, linked to tariff-related pressures, is cooling off hiring plans. Companies are scaling back expansion and delaying new roles due to increased costs and uncertainty from ongoing trade tensions. This has resulted in fewer competitive offers for job switchers and weaker overall wage growth across many sectors.
“The balance of power between employer and employee is shifting back toward firms that are hiring,” the report noted.
Industries like finance and information—where workers are often paid monthly and tend to be higher income—are seeing fewer people make job changes. On the other hand, jobs in construction and manufacturing, where people are usually paid weekly, are seeing a bit more job switching. That’s probably because those fields still need more workers.
