U.S. workers are increasingly likely to stay in their current jobs over the next six months as economic concerns mount and confidence in the external job market wanes, according to Eagle Hill Consulting’s Employee Retention Index released Tuesday.
The index climbed 3.9 points to 102.5 for the first quarter of 2025, reflecting growing employee satisfaction with their current positions despite deteriorating economic conditions that have dampened optimism about alternative employment opportunities.
“We’re now in an environment where caution has overtaken confidence, and many companies already are making tough decisions about their workforce,” said Melissa Jezior, president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting.
Generational and gender retention gaps widen
The index revealed significant disparities in retention risk across different demographic groups. Gen Z workers are now the least likely to leave their jobs — a notable shift from previous trends — while Millennials represent the highest retention risk among all age groups.
Perhaps most concerning for employers is the growing gender retention gap, which reached its widest point to date at 19 points. Women reported substantially lower confidence about their compensation than men, with the gender compensation gap expanding to 33.2 points.
“While this is good news for employers facing chronic labor shortages, it’s a tough situation for employers who now must reduce their labor costs,” Jezior said.
Employee sentiment mixed across key indicators
The quarterly index tracks worker sentiment across four retention drivers: organizational confidence, culture, compensation, and job market opportunity.
Three of these indicators rose in the first quarter: organizational confidence increased 2.7 points to 102.6, the culture indicator rose 2.6 points to 101.4, and the compensation indicator showed the largest gain at 3.3 points to 102.3.
Only the job market opportunity indicator declined, dropping 2.4 points to 99.6 — signaling employees feel less confident about external employment prospects.
The Eagle Hill findings align with recent government data showing employee quits were down by 273,000 over the past year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, even as the U.S. Department of Labor reported the economy added a larger-than-expected 228,000 jobs in March.
The index is based on monthly surveys conducted by Ipsos using a nationally representative sample of employed adults, with the most recent data collected in early March.
