July 24, 2026
‘Job Lock’: One in Four US Employees Are Staying in Jobs They Hate to Keep Their Health Insurance
Nearly one in four US employees (24%) say they are staying in a job they would rather leave, simply to keep their health insurance. Gallup calls this ‘job lock’, and its research shows the problem has grown sharply since 2021.
The rate is up eight percentage points in four years – the equivalent of around 23 million adults. The data comes from research conducted by Gallup in partnership with West Health, a joint initiative that surveyed 5,660 US adults in December 2025. The subset analysed here comprises 2,322 respondents who are employed and rely on employer-sponsored health insurance as their main source of coverage.
Job lock is rising in a climate where US workers already face serious strain over healthcare costs. Among those with personal or household medical debt, 44% say they are staying in an unwanted job for insurance, more than double the rate among those without medical debt (21%).
Job Lock and Health Insurance: Who Is Most Affected
Job lock is more likely among those with long-term physical and mental health conditions, the study finds. Among those with three or more chronic conditions, 41% are staying with their current employer even though they would rather leave. It also affects 35% of those with depression, 33% with anxiety and 36% with immune-compromising conditions.
Women (30%) are more likely than men (20%) to report staying in an unwanted job to keep their health cover. More women than men also reported financial stress from medical costs, healthcare debt and multiple chronic conditions.
Financially, it is not the lowest earners who are hit hardest, but the squeezed middle. Among those earning $48,000–$90,000 a year, 27% report staying in their job for insurance. This compares with 25% of those earning below $48,000, 22% earning $90,000–$179,999 and 16% earning $180,000 or more.
This points to a distinct strain on the lower-middle income bracket: workers who earn too much for subsidised alternatives, but not enough to absorb the risk of losing cover.
The Rise of Job Hugging
Gallup’s job lock findings sit alongside growing evidence that people are clinging to their jobs out of fear rather than commitment. This job hugging trend is typically driven by external pressures such as a cooling labour market and economic instability.
A 2025 study found 75% of ‘job huggers’ plan to stay in their jobs until 2027. And Gartner HR data shows more employees are choosing to stay even when offers are on the table: acceptance rates have fallen from 85% two years ago to just 48% in 2026.
A Zety survey of 1,000 US workers points to the rise of ‘workplace situationships‘, with employee-employer relationships feeling more casual than committed. Financial stability (60%) and benefits (40%) are among the top reasons cited for people staying despite a lack of dedication to the job.
Gallup’s data points to one of the key benefits keeping people in unwanted jobs: private health insurance. More specifically, it is often the workers who most need employer support – such as those with chronic health conditions – who feel the most trapped.
The Retention Metric Issue and The CX Cost
All of this gets missed when retention alone is treated as the goal. Tracking turnover in isolation will not surface a disengaged, demotivated employee who is only staying because of high medical costs.
The argument here is not that this group should be identified so they can be exited. It is that a high retention rate can be read as a sign of a healthy, engaged workforce, when the reality is more concerning.
In customer-facing organisations, these problems surface gradually: in service quality, and in a growing reluctance to go the extra mile for a customer.
Does the UK Have Its Own Version of Job Lock?
While this data is US-focused, the UK is not immune to the underlying problem. Access to healthcare here is not tied to employment in the same way, so the mechanism differs. But several benefits now common in UK workplaces carry similar lock-in properties, and they tend to bind the same groups of people.
Private Medical Insurance (PMI) is the closest parallel. As of 2023, 4.7 million people were covered by PMI through their employer in the UK, a record high. PMI demand continues to build as NHS waiting lists, which stood at 7.1 million in March 2026, remain a long-term pressure on the system. UK employers are increasingly offering PMI, which is in high demand among employees, as an attraction and retention lever.
Enhanced occupational sick pay may also play a role, albeit a smaller one, in a similar lock-in dynamic.
Benefits Alone Are Not a Retention Strategy
None of this is an argument for scaling back benefits. PMI and decent sick pay are the right things to offer. Withdrawing them would harm the people who rely on them most, while doing nothing for engagement.
The argument is that a strong benefits package is a reason to stay, not a reason to commit. It buys presence, not discretionary effort, and it can hold someone in place long after they have mentally moved on.
What builds genuine commitment is a visible long-term future: growth and development opportunities, quality managerial support, and a culture of belonging that gives people a reason to choose the organisation each year, rather than simply calculate the cost of leaving.
