Is your job threatened by AI? Here’s what we know now
USA TODAY’s Money reporter, Rachel Barber, looks at how AI is impacting the US job market.
You’ve been at your job for a few years now, and your salary hasn’t gone up. Your thoughts turn to the desired ads.
Changing jobs to earn more money is a time-honored practice. Change jobs too often, however, and you run the risk of being called a job-hopper.
With that red flag in mind, we asked a question to several career experts: How often can you safely change employers, if your goal is to earn more money?
American workers seem less loyal to their companies today than in the recent past. The average worker had a career of 3.9 years in 2024, according to federal data, the lowest number of workers since 2002.
A typical job seeker has been at their current job for two years and three months, according to Truth, a job website.
“The job market right now is more fluid,” said Priya Rathod, job site editor at Chokwadi.
Wages are rising for many workers who remain in their jobs, but perhaps not as fast as they would like.
The average employer plans to offer a salary increase of up to 3.5% in 2026, according to an October survey of 1,000 organizations by Mercer, a human resources consultancy.
With inflation rising at an annual rate of between 2% and 3%, the 3.5% payment is very modest.
One way to increase your salary, of course, is to get a higher paying job.
Corporate employees are covered by employment letters. The number of applications submitted on LinkedIn rose by 45% between 2024 and 2025, The New York Times reports. AI has made it easier to use.
When does job hunting become boring?
But when does job-hunting become job-hopping?
The term is “generally defined as being in employment for less than two years,” Rathod said.
Matthew Bidwell, professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, agrees: “If you do jobs in a systematic way less than two or three years, they start to get scared.”
For potential employers, job-hopping can be a red flag. It suggests one of two things, Bidwell said: “Either it’s because you can’t, and you keep cornering, or you have itchy feet.
Employers don’t like to come back. It takes time and money to train a replacement: the equivalent of one or two years’ salary, Bidwell said.
“This means that I don’t want to hire you if you leave after one or two years,” he added.
But, the joke about job-hopping may end.
Is loyalty at work a thing of the past?
American work culture used to value loyalty, a theme in the pension, a retirement vehicle that rewarded employees for the long haul. But those thoughts have changed.
“Attitudes have changed dramatically in the last 20 years,” said Christine Sundry, associate dean of the workplace at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College. “Careers today are not linear.”
Young adults come out of college today with a lot of debt, Sundry said, and the pressure to quickly earn a high salary.
The remote work revolution of the COVID-19 era has made it easier to change jobs.
“Job printing has become a very serious thing in the past few years,” said Jasmine Escalera, a career expert at the Bold website.
Recent layoffs can encourage workers to move around their jobs.
“The job seeker does not feel that he has to be trustworthy, because the company is not trustworthy,” said Sundry.
Changing jobs every year or two does not equate to job retention, experts say.
Among twenty-somethings, some job-hopping is expected. Older workers can be expected to stay longer.
“I think a lot depends on your career, and your age,” Bidwell said. “Changing jobs every year in your early to mid-20s shouldn’t be a problem. Over the years, if you keep doing it, it will start to raise eyebrows.”
If you do job-hop, career experts say, be prepared to explain your decision in future job interviews.
“More important than how often you change jobs is whether each move makes sense and, more importantly, if it can be explained to a potential employer,” said Rathod.
Here are some ways to go hopping
If you don’t want to explain your job-hopping to future employers, then consider other options. Here are a few:
Discuss the higher costs
Most American workers say they have not asked for a higher salary than they were offered when they took their current job, Pew Research reports. A higher salary becomes important, career experts say, if you don’t get a meaningful raise in the coming years.
Ask for a promotion
Most American workers feel they are entitled to a raise, but many are reluctant to ask for one, according to a 2023 survey from the site B2B Review. Employees say they are not sure what to ask, fear rejection or worry about job security.
It is clear that an employee who does not ask for a promotion is less likely to get one.
Ask for a promotion
Better yet, career experts say, ask for a raise.
“One way people increase their income is to change jobs within companies,” said Bidwell. “The good thing about a promotion is, you get a salary, and you also get put in a higher salary band.”
With promotions, you can get high-paying jobs at other companies, too.
Use the assignment function to increase
One way to convince an employer to give you a raise or promotion, career experts say, is to offer another job. But the idea is dangerous, and it can backfire.
If your company offers you a higher salary for turning down an offer, your co-workers may “see you as dishonest,” Bidwell said. “And if I think you’re already out the door, how much am I going to put in you?”
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