It's a play on the term quiet quitting, which describes workers refusing to go above and beyond in their work. The term quiet quitting came about as a rationale for the Great Resignation, or Americans' sustained willingness to quit their jobs in search of better ones during the pandemic.
Quiet quitting doesn't actually refer to quitting a job—it means completing one's minimum work requirements without going above and beyond or bringing work home after hours.
Quiet quitting is when employees continue to put in the minimum amount of effort to keep their jobs, but don't go the extra mile for their employer. This might mean not speaking up in meetings, not volunteering for tasks, and refusing to work overtime.
Employees across multiple sectors came to the realization that they weren't happy with their jobs during the pandemic. People weren't satisfied with their work environment, the industry they were in or their work-life balance and left their jobs. Anthony Klotz coined the term the Great Resignation.
The Disadvantages of Quiet Quitting
For starters, quiet quitting can affect productivity and work culture. Just doing the bare minimum can result in significantly less output and collaboration. When employees reduce their work output, their team will often try to cover them, increasing their workload.
Pay discrepancies are one of the leading causes of quiet quitting. The issue isn't that employees don't want to do the extra work but don't feel appropriately compensated for their efforts. More than money, the root of the problem is a lack of respect.
However, quiet quitting could be a sign that an employee is not happy in their position or is experiencing burnout. Quiet quitting is a way the employee deals with burnout to help alleviate stress. It may also mean they are ready to change positions or may be currently looking for another job.
You've probably heard about the “great resignation” which saw large numbers of people resigning from their jobs in the US in 2021 and 2022. We didn't see resignations over and above what is normal in Australia. However, we did see workers resisting the post-COVID return to the office.
Roughly half say child care issues were a reason they quit a job (48% among those with a child younger than 18 in the household). A similar share point to a lack of flexibility to choose when they put in their hours (45%) or not having good benefits such as health insurance and paid time off (43%).
I regret to inform you that I will be leaving my role as [your role] at [company name] on [end date]. Due to personal reasons that prevent me from fulfilling the responsibilities of this role, I feel it is in the best interest that I resign. I appreciate the time I have spent here [optional: elaborate on your role].
In short, quiet quitting has been popularized recently with employees that are just at a job for the paycheck and aren't really emotionally or intellectually engaged. It's about doing the bare minimum, and not going “above and beyond”.
“Soft quitting” is a term that's often used interchangeably with quiet quitting.
Quiet quitting then, is often used to cope with burnout. It has been defined in a couple of different ways — some describe it as not actively going above and beyond at work, while others see it as doing only the bare minimum to remain employed.
Quiet quitting is a sign of employee burnout and exhaustion that stems from the way organizations have long treated their workers. Companies have run people the way you run tires on a car — until they're bald and you change them out! Or until they burn out, the equivalent of a blowout.
The 'Great Retraining. ' A new Cengage Group report found that people who voluntarily left their jobs during the pandemic are heading into emerging fields like tech.
Employers hired a record 76.4 million people and laid off the fewest on record, 16.8 million, in 2022, according to JOLTS data.
About 50% of “prime aged” workers aged between 18 and 54 reported feeling exhausted at work. Younger workers in particular feel there are fewer opportunities for advancement and are more likely to feel time-poor. Worryingly for employers, a third of workers under 54 are considering quitting.
Duration of employment
About 1 in 5 (21 per cent) had been in their job for less than 1 year, up from 18 per cent in February 2021. The proportion of those in their current job between 1 and 4 years had fallen since 2021, down from 36 per cent to 34 per cent.
Quiet quitting is passive-aggressively checking out. Quiet quitters will be the first to be let go when the labor market cools.
While it may seem like disengagement or even insubordination, quiet quitting can actually be seen as grounds for termination in some cases. If an employee consistently does just the bare minimum, leaders of the company may get the wrong idea and penalize them for being unproductive.
When passionate employees become quiet, according to Tim McClure, it usually sends a signal that the work environment has become very dysfunctional. Suspicion and insecurity clouds the culture and employees retreat into self-protection behavior patterns to protect themselves from the forces within the company.