Why "Job Security" Feels Increasingly Fragile in 2026
Hi, I’m Will, the guy who helps people disappear their bosses. Legally, of course.
There is a conversation happening in break rooms, in text threads, and in the not-so-quiet corners of people’s minds.
It goes something like this: I thought “I was safe here. And now I’m not so sure.”
That feeling is not paranoia. The data behind it is real, and it is worth looking at honestly.
The Layoff Numbers Tell a Blunt Story
January 2026 opened with over 108,000 announced job cuts, a 118% increase compared to January 2025 and the highest January total since the pandemic, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. By May, layoffs continued with 97,006 more jobs announced, the highest May total since 2020. A ResumeBuilder survey of 1,000 U.S. business leaders found that 58% say layoffs are likely in 2026. Nearly half of those same leaders identified high-salary employees as the most vulnerable group, and 41% of companies have already pulled back on hiring.
The federal government added its own chapter to this story, with approximately 300,000 federal workers displaced through DOGE-related restructuring. Job insecurity, it turns out, is not a private sector problem.
What makes 2026 different from previous layoff cycles is the structural nature of what’s driving the cuts. AI is cited as the top reason in roughly 40% of announced cuts. Mentions of layoffs and job insecurity in Glassdoor reviews rose sharply, with insecurity references up 63% year-over-year by May 2026. According to ResumeBuilder, 37% of companies plan to replace specific roles with AI by the end of the year. This is not a temporary correction. It is a reshaping of what corporate employment looks like going forward. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Engagement Picture Is Just as Sobering
Layoffs are the dramatic headline, but the slower story underneath is worth examining. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2026 Report, only 20% of workers worldwide feel truly engaged at work, the lowest figure since 2020 and the first time the number has fallen two consecutive years. In the United States specifically, employee engagement sits at 31%, an 11-year low. The remaining workforce is split between those going through the motions and the 17% who are actively disengaged, meaning the majority of American workers are not fully invested in what they’re doing each day. HR Cloud
Think about what that means at a personal level. The majority of people reading this article are spending the largest portion of their waking hours in a state of disconnection from their work, inside an organization that may not think twice about eliminating their position if the quarterly numbers call for it. That is the deal on offer in 2026.
The Job-Hopping Illusion
Here is where I want to make a point that most career advice skips entirely.
When people feel insecure in one job, the instinctive response is to find a better one. Different logo, better title, slightly higher salary, same fundamental arrangement. You are still trading your time, your skills, and your loyalty for a paycheck that belongs to someone else’s company. You are still one restructuring announcement away from starting the search over again.
The data does not suggest this pattern leads anywhere more secure. The background hiring market is weaker now, making re-employment harder and lengthening the shadow cast by each cut. The companies absorbing displaced workers are often the same companies planning their own rounds. You are not escaping the cycle by moving within it. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Alternative Nobody Is Selling You
At some point, the honest question isn’t “which company should I work for next” but rather “why am I still betting my financial future entirely on someone else’s decisions?”
Business ownership is not a guarantee of anything. Running a business is its own kind of hard, and I won’t pretend otherwise. But when you own a business, you own the outcome. Your income is not subject to a board decision made in a city where nobody knows your name. Your position cannot be eliminated in a restructuring you had no part in creating. The equity you build accumulates in your own account, not someone else’s.
The professionals I work with who make this transition are not reckless people. They are thoughtful, accomplished individuals who looked honestly at the data, asked the right question, and decided that the so-called safe path wasn’t actually safe anymore.
It isn’t 1985. The gold watch doesn’t exist. Corporate loyalty runs in one direction. The numbers make that clear in 2026 in a way that is genuinely difficult to argue with.
The question is what you’re going to do about it.
If you’re ready to have that conversation, you know where to find me.
Will Huffhine is the President of Quantum Franchise Group. Schedule a conversation at acallwithwill.com.