CEOs don't have to 'job hug' like the rest of us

"CEO departures across corporate America remain at record levels, while many everyday workers are clinging to their roles as they face a cooling job market, anxiety over AI, and a resurgent no-nonsense management style. The result is a corporate split screen: CEOs can generally roll out and land on their feet, while workers feel stuck, said Richard Smith, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Unlike many rank-and-file employees who rely on regular paychecks and fear layoffs, erstwhile CEOs often have a financial cushion. That means they don't have to worry if they go a year or two without working, he said."

"Whether it's worries about job security or just a painful hangover from the role-swapping frenzy of the Great Resignation, metrics like worker engagement and well-being are down. Smith, who runs the Human Capital Development Lab at Johns Hopkins, has surveyed US employees annually since 2019 and, in newly tabulated data from 2024involving more than 1.3 million workers, found that managers and senior leaders reported greater rates of well-being than the average employee. That's a reversal, he said, from the early days of the pandemic, when managers reported lower well-being than workers as leaders were fretting over challenges like running remote teams."

CEO departures remain at record levels while many workers cling to roles amid a cooling job market, anxiety over AI, and stricter management styles. Many everyday employees feel stuck due to reliance on regular paychecks, fear of layoffs, return-to-office mandates, and quality-of-life concerns. Former CEOs frequently possess financial cushions that reduce urgency to find new work and allow them to absorb time off without immediate financial pressure. Survey data from 2024 covering more than 1.3 million US employees shows managers and senior leaders reporting greater well-being than average employees, reversing early-pandemic patterns. CEOs' median pay was 176.7 times that of a typical employee in 2024.

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