Although economic conditions have been shown to significantly impact the ability to change jobs, less is known about how the economy may influence individuals’ experience of job changes. While voluntary job changes often trigger a notable increase in job satisfaction, a phenomenon referred to as the honeymoon effect, theory and empirical evidence offer contradicting propositions about how the economy may impact this effect. In this research, we investigate job satisfaction trajectories following voluntary job changes amid varying economic conditions. We employed a national longitudinal dataset from Australia, surveying approximately 23,500 employees over 20 years, that we linked to annual unemployment rates to capture economic conditions. Our fixed-effect analyses showed that, under adverse economic conditions, the honeymoon effect is enhanced, leading to a pronounced increase in employee’s job satisfaction upon transitioning to a new organization. Our findings highlight the role of the wider economic environment in shaping psychological processes at work.
