Taking recruiter calls in the office parking lot on the down-low is no longer among the most lucrative things you can do at work. The median pay bump notched by those switching jobs shrunk to 4.8% last month from a peak of 7.7% in early 2023, according to recently released data from the Atlanta Fed.

That means the premium for ditching your current employer over staying put has all but disappeared since the red-hot job market of 2022 and 2023.

• In February 2023, a job-ditcher got a median 7.7% raise over the year, compared to a 5.6% pay bump for someone staying put.

• Last month, those who remained in their jobs received a 4.6% annual raise, just .2% under someone posting about “an exciting new chapter” on LinkedIn.

Help not so wanted

Job-hopping ceasing to be a surefire way to enter a new tax bracket is a sign of a cooling economy in which employers are no longer on the poaching prowl.

It’s been extra rough on tech: Memes about $800k tech salaries and in-office back rubs are rapidly becoming so 2022. After layoffs swept through the industry in 2024, and software development vacancies hit a 5-year low last month, many tech job seekers are settling for pay cuts, according to the Wall Street Journal.

• People applying for senior tech roles have been hit the hardest as many companies have slashed their manager headcount.

• Meanwhile, only 45% of tech workers got a raise last year, compared to 55% in 2023, according to the job board Dice.

But some job hoppers in other industries are still cashing in. The WSJ reports that experienced banking pros joining a new bank are getting record pay premiums, as the industry scored unprecedented earnings last year.

Big picture: Fewer people are taking the leap toward a new employer. Less than 2.2% of workers switched jobs last month compared to 2.6% in June 2022, per government data. —SK

This report was originally published by Morning Brew.