As a Headhunter, I wanted to look, but also.. didn’t want to look, when I noticed multiple articles this last year noting the slim and negligible margin between median wage increases for job-switchers vs. job-stayers.  Yes, that!

Having helped employees move from one job to another for over a quarter century, I would be sugarcoating it to suggest that money isn’t (nearly) always a primary consideration.  This is capitalism after all, and Honeycrisp apples aren’t getting any cheaper.  So, if this trend is real what does that mean for companies who are hiring in 2026?  Does it mean less movement, fewer candidates, and fewer hires?

Perhaps.  Money, though, has not always been the sole reason that people move.  And in fact, while money is always one of the top considerations for a job seeker, there are often motivators that transcend financial ambitions.  As you might guess, these factors include commute time, company culture / management style, growth potential, company size, company product (think, i.e. market sector, private vs public, ground up vs. renovation, high end vs market rate, etc..), and more recently of course employees seem to value some WFH opportunity.  Medical benefits, allowances, etc.. are always a major consideration but there is a strong case for those items to be placed squarely within the compensation bucket.

So as we move towards 2026, and reviews are conducted, raises and bonuses provided (or not), and employees predictably become itchy, it will be interesting to see if job seekers begin focusing more on factors that are not just financial – if in fact those financial incentives are just not there.

Employers take note– your 1 or 2 day wfh policy may now seriously set you apart and your choice to move to an office that is centrally located or close to a major transportation hub may actually make the difference between attracting mediocre talent vs. excellent talent.

This may also mean that the ‘little things’ that employers have taken the time to offer now have a chance to shine.  Did you opt for Cold Brew instead of Ice Coffee in your kitchen / cafeteria?  Gym memberships or wellness reimbursements?  Yoga or sound meditations?  Summer Fridays?  Free snacks?  Pet insurance (a candidate was asking a couple of months ago)?  Retreats?  Yes some of these things may sound trivial….however that one small company perk that your VP Operations scoffed at may also be the one bright light that attracts crucial talent for your firm.

Mission driven companies – nonprofit developers, affordable housing builders, cultural institutions, owners reps focused on nonprofit, etc….all may have an edge in this kind of market as well.  While the pay scales may not be the same, perhaps employees might feel better building a school auditorium, or livable affordable housing than the 200th Italian marble, mahogany appointed conference room for a trillion dollar tech company.

Salary compression also contributes, I think, to this data based observation that job hoppers may not see the bumps in pay they used to.

This compression, the narrowing gap between salaries for junior and senior roles, has impacted numerous industries including construction, tech, healthcare, education, retail and logistics.

I’ve found this to be anecdotally true.  I see Assistant Project Managers, for instance, starting at 70k on average out of school, but then quickly moving up to 100k in just a couple of years, while project manager roles start around 120k.  APMs on large high rise ground up projects tend to earn as much as 130-135k, and so the lines start to blur.  A biproduct of this compression, again anecdotally, is APMs being afforded the ‘opportunity’ to manage large amounts of work as either a ‘junior project manager’ or PM without the title within just a few years – perhaps to rationalize these higher salaries, albeit with more risk to the employer and their clients / funders.

And then eventually, hiring managers, owners, employers…they hit the threshold, and they say…no I’m not paying 175k to a 23 year old (no offense to any 23 year old who deserve that 175k).  Those same employers may see this pressure in the market and decide that a 6-7% pay increase for existing performing employees may not be as bad as they originally thought. For company owners, this trend may provide a path towards higher retention – if they play it right.

Perhaps this is just the market, then, and organically things will stabilize, but in the meantime – job seekers may want to reflect on why they are job seeking in the first place. Not because you, the job seeker, shouldn’t move – but because you probably want to move because of money AND something else.

Yes, money is likely a driving factor, especially in today’s affordability crisis in the US.  But peace of mind, a shorter commute, more time with the family, less time getting yelled at, doing something you love….these things do have value. They don’t buy Honeycrisps …but they do have value.

If there is anything I know for certain after 27 years of recruitment in AEC / Real Estate, it is that trends are by definition impermanent, fluid, fragile, and fleeting. So while this may be the new reality in 2026, and we may have to absorb and adapt – there will surely be a new trend we get to solve for shortly thereafter. Until then, I’m here if you need any advice.

Articles Referenced:

Money.com : “The Great Stay – Why Switching Jobs No Longer Pays Off” in 2025 – using the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank Wage Growth Tracker (which uses the CPS, Bureau of Labor Statistics / US Census Bureau).  Lightcast “Does Job Hopping Still Pay Off?” in 2025 – using tens of millions of us job postings, employer reported salary ranges, estimated occupation to occupation transitions, and tenure and job-mobility modeling.

David Cone-Gorham is owner of NYCM Search, a boutique Talent Acquisition firm in Westchester focused on the AEC and REDEV industries, placing managers in project and development management, preconstruction, field supervision, asset management, owner / lender representation, facilities management, and everything else related to businesses in the construction management and real estate space. NYCM SEARCH