The Illusion of Bureaucratic Attachment: The Risk of Civil Service Talent Stagnation

Amid economic pressures, many workers find themselves “compelled” to cling tightly to their jobs. Each morning, they may wake without enthusiasm for their work, yet the logic of survival forces them to press on.

This phenomenon is known as job hugging, a human resources term that has grown increasingly prominent of late. Data from the US Department of Labor shows the voluntary resignation rate (quits rate) has remained stable at a low 2% since early 2025 — the lowest level since the pandemic. This figure signals that people are afraid to move.

Remarkably, this phenomenon cuts across generations. Even Gen Z — a generation known for being critical, digitally native, and ambitious — is not immune. Rather than seeking the right fit through frequent job changes (job hopping), they are choosing to stay put for the sake of security.

This context becomes highly relevant and intriguing when applied to the body of Indonesia’s bureaucracy. It is undeniable that whenever CASN (civil service candidate) selection opens, millions compete for ASN status. Why? Because in the public’s eyes, ASN represents the ultimate bastion of stability — “safe” until retirement, recession-proof, and with minimal risk of redundancy.

Yet this is precisely where the illusion begins. Are these bureaucratic workers truly loyal talents making an impact on their organisations, or are they merely sheltering without clear motivation?

Knies et al. (2024), in their article titled “Strategic human resource management and public sector performance: context matters”, emphasise that the key to public sector performance is the successful creation of public value, accompanied by Public Service Motivation — the drive to serve the community well.

However, this motivation cannot possibly flourish if employees are bound only to “status” rather than to the organisation’s “purpose”.

From Quiet Quitting to Punishing the Competent

The job hugging phenomenon in the public sector is not merely a matter of people being “reluctant to move” — it creates a domino effect capable of damaging the entire work ecosystem.

First, the illusion of engagement and the risk of quiet quitting. Administratively, these civil servants appear fully present (engaged), yet they are cognitively and emotionally absent (quiet quitting). Michael Armstrong, in his Handbook of Strategic HRM (2025), states that engagement occurs when employees provide discretionary effort — voluntary extra effort.

Job huggers do not do this; they work to the bare minimum standard solely to avoid sanctions, whilst counting down to payday and eventually retirement. Consequently, organisations appear to have sufficient human resources in terms of quantity, when in reality they possess merely a list of names without significant contributions.

Second, the phenomenon of punishing the competent. This is one of the gravest risks of job hugging. When some employees choose stagnation and shelter behind their secure status, the workload does not simply vanish. It shifts onto the shoulders of diligent, competent employees with integrity. Leaders tend to assign urgent tasks to those who “can deliver”, not to those who “merely exist”.

This risks creating a reverse natural selection: the best employees may potentially leave out of exhaustion from being exploited, whilst passive employees remain indefinitely because they feel comfortable.

Building a Meaningful Ecosystem

Nevertheless, this phenomenon is not a dead end. It is an alarm for government talent management. Job hugging must be addressed not through sanctions, but through the creation of new meaning in work.

First, shifting from job security to employment security — the government must transform the ASN mindset. Security does not come from an appointment decree, but from the competencies one possesses. Human resource development strategy must pivot towards aggressive upskilling.

If employees feel competent, they will not fear challenges and become job huggers.

Furthermore, internal talent mobility must be created. Based on principles in the ATD Talent Management Handbook (2016) by Terry Bickham, healthy retention is achieved through rotation and new challenges. Government agencies must break down bureaucratic silos. Give employees opportunities to continuously learn new things, as stagnation is the primary enemy of motivation and a barrier to innovation.

Appreciation is due for the issuance of Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Regulation Number 15 of 2025 on the Implementation of the Merit System in ASN Management. This regulation brings a breath of fresh air as it incorporates employee satisfaction and engagement as merit system indicators. However, regulation on paper is not enough.

Government agencies must commit to translating it into real practice: opening pathways for talent mobility, providing project-based challenges, and ensuring civil servants stay because they want to contribute, not out of compulsion and comfort zones.

Bureaucratic reform will not succeed merely by retaining long-serving personnel, but by ensuring those personnel possess the energy to make meaningful contributions. The success of bureaucratic reform is determined by our ability to transform the mentality of “guardians” into “agents of change”.

Azis Untung Priyambudi is a civil servant at the Ministry of Communications and Digital and a postgraduate student in Human Resource Management at the University of Indonesia.