Workers used to want higher salaries and flexibility, but now they're chasing a sense of safety

Workers used to chase higher pay and flexibility. Now they're chasing something else.

For decades, the standard career advice was to follow the money. Now, it's about finding job security.

Monster's recent "2026 Job Security Report" found that more than half of U.S. workers would accept a pay cut for a greater sense of job security, and 61% said they'd give up at least one aspect of their compensation or their workplace experience - like bonuses, perks and other incentives - if it made them feel more secure in their role.

What's more, the survey found workers would take pretty sizable pay cuts to keep working: 26% would take a pay cut of up to 5%, and another 28% would be willing to be paid 5% less or more - including 11% who would accept a pay cut greater than 10%.

"Job security seems to be a top priority for workers," Monster career expert Vicki Salemi told MarketWatch. "That doesn't mean that flexibility and work-life balance are no longer important, but things have shifted."

What exactly have they shifted from? Compensation was always a major priority for workers, and still is. But in the years following the COVID pandemic work-from-home boom, flexibility became an increasingly important part of the bargain. This even led to viral discussions about whether a $240,000 salaried job in-person, or a $120,000 salaried job fully remote was better.

Things have changed. "In the years before, the deal was quite simple: If you don't like your job, you can leave and land somewhere better in 5-6 weeks," Jan Hendrik von Ahlen, a managing director and employment expert at JobLeads, told MarketWatch. "Job security was all about your skills and experience that would land you a new opportunity, not about your employer. In 2026, it's pretty much gone."

Unemployment was just above 3% during parts of 2022, for example, during one of the hottest labor markets in decades. The latest unemployment reading from August was 4.1% - which is still a relatively low figure from a historical perspective, but it's a cooler job market than previous years, particularly for recent college graduates. The labor market may also be impacted going forward by possible Federal Reserve rate hikes, which are widely expected.

"A job search now takes three to six months, and it's normal to send more than 100 applications to barely hear anything back," von Ahlen added.

One of those workers who thinks job security is paramount is Arkadiusz Bolanowski, 32, a Colorado man who works in solar development and an independent power producer.

He moved over from working in commercial finance three years ago, because he believed the solar industry's rapid growth would keep him safe from layoffs.

"I think safety is more industry-specific than company-specific. If I get fired, downsized, restructured, I feel like I have the ability to find another job within the industry," Bolanowski said. "Working in energy right now feels secure with the growing demand due to load growth from data centers."

'Once you've lived through losing a job ... a bigger paycheck stops being the deciding factor.' Chelsea Jay, a recruiter and professional career coach at ResumeCoach

And job recruiters told MarketWatch that they are seeing plenty of evidence that job hunters are seeking security.

"I've worked with clients this year who chose a lower salary because the role felt more stable," Chelsea Jay, a recruiter and professional career coach at ResumeCoach, told MarketWatch. She said most of these clients had been laid off within the past couple of years, which changed their perspective. "Once you've lived through losing a job ... a bigger paycheck stops being the deciding factor," she said.

And when her clients are weighing an offer that pays more against an offer that pays less but comes from a company with a steadier track record, fewer rounds of cuts and more consistent hiring, then "more often than not, they're choosing the steadier one," she added.

Related: Want to land more job interviews? Stop letting AI write your résumé.

Measuring how safe or secure a job is is not exactly a science, but there are a few things you can seek out.

"There's no perfect way to measure it, but there are real signs, and most people ignore them until it's too late," Jay said.

In addition to looking for growth industries, like Bolanowski did, Jay advises workers to watch how the company talks, not just what it says. "If leadership gets vague the moment someone asks about headcount or budget, pay attention to that," she said

Some other signs that you may lack job security in your industry or company include a role sitting empty for months after somebody quits, or a large portion of your workload being susceptible to AI advancements, Jay said.

"Look at how much of your day-to-day could be handled by a tool or an automated process," Jay said. "That's not a reason to panic. It's a reason to start building the parts of your job that require judgment, relationships, and taste - the things AI still can't do."

'I can't deal with this stress anymore. I'd rather take a massive pay cut.'A tech worker who asked to remain anonymous

One tech worker, who spoke with MarketWatch anonymously over fears that he may be part of some upcoming layoffs at his company, said he is questioning his own job security in this way.

"We've seen an unprecedented number of layoffs in the technology sector as economic factors combined with 'AI hype' have led to significant downsizing. Many of those who were laid off left tech entirely to pursue careers viewed as safer," said the worker, a male in his 30s.

So he's got one foot out the door, too. "No one in this industry feels safe, even in organizations more resilient to these layoffs," he said. "If I lose this job, absolutely, this is my last go in this industry."

He's been so rocked by recent tech layoffs over the past few years that he began taking part-time nursing classes at a local community college. It's the safest career path he could think of considering the strong demand for workers in the healthcare industry in recent years.

And AI fears over job security are not just theoretical. Many companies have publicly said that some of their recent layoffs were at least somewhat related to AI, including Oracle( ORCL), Amazon( AMZN), Cloudflare(NET), and Block (XYZ).

Hence why that tech worker said he is completely done with the industry, and would welcome taking less money by becoming a nurse.

"I can't deal with this stress anymore. I'd rather take a massive pay cut, and have to deal with all manner of abuse and bodily fluid. Genuinely," he said. "It's better than knowing your entire life can fall apart overnight at the whim of some person purchasing their third mansion."

-Weston Blasi