Eagle Hill Consulting Employee Retention Index Reaches All-Time High, Signaling Workers Will Continue to Job Hug Over Next Six Months

All four Eagle Hill Consulting Retention Index sub-indices — Culture, Compensation, Organizational Confidence, and Job Market Opportunity — fluctuated across demographics and throughout the quarter. September, however, marked a turning point as worker sentiment significantly improved across each of the Retention Index's four sub-indicators. Some of the largest shifts in employee sentiment include a jump in employees' confidence in their organizational leadership, along with a rise in employees who feel they have a path to increase their compensation at their organization.

"The Eagle Hill Employee Retention Index provides critical insights into workforce dynamics," said Melissa Jezior, president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting. "The historic highs we're seeing across the Retention Index tell a compelling story: employees are more inclined to job hug than at any point since we began tracking this data. The data indicate that workers are staying because they feel increasingly satisfied with their organizational culture and compensation. Workers also indicate they are more confident in their organization's leadership and ability to navigate a complex business environment."

Additional key findings are as follows:

• The Compensation Indicator is the strongest among the four indicators, jumping 6.5 points to a historic high of 109.9. This reflects employees' growing satisfaction with their compensation, benefits, and perceived ability to grow their earnings at their organization.
• The Organizational Confidence Indicator also reaches a high point this period, rising by 3.2 points to 104.7.
• The Culture Indicator, reflecting employee's attitudes about workplace culture, climbed 2.4 points to 103.1, while the Job Market Opportunity Indicator gained 5.8 points to 101.
• Despite the unified upward movement of the Index and its indicators, variability in sentiment persists across segments of the U.S. workforce. Millennial workers and women post significant Retention Index gains, 8.9 and 6.9 points respectively, and now sit at historic highs, indicating each are more likely than ever to stay in their jobs over the next six months.
• The Retention Index declined among Gen X workers and men, down 4.7 and 0.8 points respectively, signaling they will be more inclined to leave in the months ahead.

The findings follow the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), the last jobs data released before the government shutdown. JOLTS data revealed that the number of available jobs remains low for the year, a sign that job opportunities continue to dwindle for Americans looking for work. BLS reported that the number of available jobs increased slightly to 7.23 million at the end of August from an upwardly revised 7.21 million. The agency also reported that job openings as a share of total employment remain at five-year lows, and that the quits rate ticked down further, indicating that workers are reluctant to give up their current jobs amid a low-hire, low-fire environment.

The Eagle Hill Employee Retention Index is a first-of-a-kind market indicator that tracks worker sentiment across four proven drivers of retention: organizational confidence, culture, compensation, and job market opportunity. The data across the four drivers for the third quarter of 2025 is as follows:

1. The Organizational Confidence Indicator measures how confident employees are in their organization's future and leadership. This indicator increased 3.2 points to 104.7, its highest point since the Index launched in 2023.
2. The Culture Indicator looks at employee sentiment about their workplace culture, connections, and whether they feel valued and recognized. This measure increased 2.4 points to 103.1.
3. The Compensation Indicator measures how employees view their compensation, benefits, and ability to grow their compensation at their organization. This indicator jumped 6.5 points to 109.9. This is a historic high and also the largest gain across the four indicators.
4. The Job Market Opportunity Indicator measures how employees perceive external prospects for employment and job security in the near term. This indicator increased by 5.8 points to 101, reversing its previous decline.

Each month, the Eagle Hill Consulting Employee Retention Index measure shifts in workforce retention based upon ongoing employee opinion surveys on factors related to worker intentions to change jobs. As the Employee Retention Index increases, it signals an increase in retention in the next six months. As the Employee Retention Index decreases, it signals to employers that workers are more likely to leave their jobs, and organizations can expect more turnover in the next six months.

The Eagle Hill Consulting Employee Retention Index is based on a monthly omnibus survey conducted by IPSOS of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults employed full or part time. Quarterly indices and reports are issued based on a minimum of 1,200 aggregated responses per quarter. Respondents are polled on a range of workforce topics including organizational confidence, culture, compensation, and job market opportunity.

The survey commenced in December 2022 and the most recent data was collected from July-September 2025.

Eagle Hill Consulting LLC is an award-winning business that provides unconventional management consulting services in the areas of Organizational Performance, Business Intelligence, Technology Enablement, Talent, and Change Management. The company's expertise in delivering innovative solutions to unique challenges spans across Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and global nonprofits. Eagle Hill has offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Boston, MA, and Seattle, WA. More information is available at www.eaglehillconsulting.com.

SOURCE Eagle Hill Consulting LLC