Is your job under threat from AI? Here’s what we know now
USA TODAY’s money reporter Rachel Barber looks at how AI is impacting the U.S. job market.
You’ve been in this job for several years, and your salary hasn’t changed. Your thoughts turn to job advertisements.
Changing jobs to earn a higher income is a time-honored tradition. However, if you change jobs too many times, you run the risk of becoming a job hopper.
With this red flag in mind, we posed the question to some career experts. “If your goal is to make more money, how often can you safely change employers?”
American workers today appear to be less loyal to their companies than they have been in recent years. According to federal data, the median employee tenure in 2024 will be 3.9 years, the lowest number since 2002.
According to employment website Indeed, the typical job seeker has been at their current job for about two years and three months.
“The job market is more fluid today,” said Priya Rathod, workplace trends editor at Indeed.
Many workers who keep their jobs are seeing their salaries rise, but perhaps not as quickly as they would like.
The average employer is planning a total pay increase of 3.5% in 2026, according to an October survey of 1,000 organizations by human resources consultant Mercer.
With inflation hovering between 2% and 3% annually, a 3.5% raise is effectively flat.
Of course, one way to increase your salary is to get a higher paying job.
Corporate recruiters are inundated with job offers. According to a report in the New York Times, the number of applications submitted to LinkedIn increased by 45% from 2024 to 2025. Applying has become easier thanks to AI.
When does job hunting become job hunting?
But when does job hunting become job hunting?
The term is “often defined as remaining in a role for a little less than two years,” Rathod said.
Matthew Bidwell, a business professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, agrees, saying, “If they’ve been in a structured job for less than two or three years, they start to get nervous.”
Job changes can be a red flag to potential employers. This suggests one of two things, Bidwell said. “It’s either because you’re incompetent and always outnumbered, or it’s because your feet are really itchy.”
Employers hate turnover. Bidwell said training a replacement takes time and money, equivalent to one to two years’ salary.
“That means if you’re leaving in a year or two, I don’t want to hire you,” he added.
However, the stigma against changing jobs may be fading.
Is loyalty at work a thing of the past?
American workplace culture once valued loyalty, a theme embodied in pensions, retirement savings vehicles that reward workers for long service. But those sensibilities have changed.
“Things have changed a lot over the past 20 years,” said Christine Sandry, associate director of the Career Center at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College. “Career paths today are not necessarily linear.”
Sundry said young people graduating from college today are taking on more debt and are under more immediate pressure to earn higher salaries.
The remote work revolution in the age of COVID-19 has simplified the process of changing jobs.
“Job hopping has become very serious in the last few years,” said Jasmine Escalera, a career expert at the networking site Bold.
Recent corporate layoffs may encourage employees to circulate their resumes.
“Job seekers don’t feel like the company needs to be loyal because the company isn’t loyal,” Sandry says.
Experts say changing jobs every one or two years isn’t necessarily the same as changing jobs.
It is expected that some people in their 20s will change jobs. Older workers may be expected to work longer hours.
“I think a lot depends on your job and your age,” Bidwell said. “If you’re in your early to mid-20s and change jobs every year, it’s probably not that bad. If you do that for years, it’s frowned upon.”
If you’re changing jobs, be prepared to explain your decision in a future job interview, career experts say.
“More important than the frequency of job changes is whether each job change makes sense, and more importantly, whether it can be explained to potential employers,” Rathod says.
Here are some alternatives to changing jobs.
If you don’t want to explain your job change to your future employer, consider alternatives. Here are a few:
negotiate a salary increase
Pew Research reports that most American workers report that they did not ask for a higher salary than they were offered when taking their current job. Employment experts say higher salaries will be important if significant raises are not available in the coming years.
ask for a raise
A 2023 survey by B2B review site found that while most American workers feel entitled to a raise, many are hesitant to ask for one. Employees say they don’t know how to ask questions, fear rejection, and worry about job security.
Clearly, workers who don’t ask for a raise are less likely to get one.
Request a promotion
Even better, career experts say, is to ask for a promotion.
“Another way people can increase their wages is by changing jobs within a company,” Bidwell says. “The good thing about promotions is that you get a raise and can reach higher salary levels.”
A promotion can qualify you for a higher-paying job at another company.
Utilize job offers to increase your salary
Career experts say one way to convince your employer to offer you a raise or promotion is to tell them you’ve been offered another job. However, this strategy is risky and can backfire.
Bidwell said co-workers “may think you’re a little dishonest” if your company gives you a higher paycheck because you turned down another offer. “If I think you’re only halfway successful, how much am I willing to invest in you?”
