You may have heard of the trend where employees engage in “quiet quitting.” It started around the early 2020s during the pandemic. But what is it? How common is it? Why do employees do it? And what can employers do about it? This blog post answers these questions.

What is quiet quitting?

Quiet quitting, also known as soft quitting, is when employees perform the minimum requirements of their job and put in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary. The employees do not actually quit, they just stay in the position in a dissatisfied state.

Although the quiet quitters perform the basic aspects of their jobs, they become less willing to engage in activities referred to as citizenship behaviours. This means that employees stop staying late, showing up early, and attending non-mandatory meetings. Quiet quitters just carry on and do not express how dissatisfied they are.

This phenomenon is similar to the “work to rule” labour action where employees only perform work that is required in their contract and not doing any other work or going above and beyond.

How widespread is the quiet quitting trend?

Some may doubt that this is a real trend; however, a recent Gallup study in 2023 found that 59 percent of the global workforce consisted of quiet quitters.

In fact, in the survey, only 32 percent of workers were engaged, 18 percent were disengaged, (they expressed their job dissatisfaction). The remaining 50 percent, Gallup theorized, could be classified as quiet quitters.

What leads to employees quiet quitting?

Why is this happening? It appears that there has been a cultural shift where employees are re-evaluating the amount of time they spend commuting, working overtime, and engaging in the hustle culture with little reward. In other words, being a workaholic is not the goal anymore—it is all about coasting now.

Quiet quitting is a way of dealing with burnout too. The workforce attachment and engagement levels simply plummet. These employees have come to view their jobs as transactional and no longer see work as an opportunity to learn, grow, or have a sense of purpose.

Fighting quiet quitting in the workplace

Some managers have more patience than others when it comes to dealing with these quiet quitters. A trend that is taking place is that employers are engaging in “quiet firing,” where they quietly, or loudly, terminate employees whom they see as slacking off. These employers end up making a job so unrewarding that the employee will feel compelled to resign.

What more productive things can employers do in response? It has been suggested that quiet quitting is a common response to problems at the leadership level: more precisely, it is a symptom of poor management and/or workplace culture. To address this concern, managers and senior executives can take a step back and ask themselves some tough questions about how to turn things around.

Employers certainly cannot punish or impose discipline on an employee who is adequately doing the job. Yet, employees who do not perform their jobs or engage in workplace misconduct could be disciplined. In the middle of this spectrum, if an employee is doing the main parts of the job, but decides not to bother going above and beyond and performing a task that they would have done had they been engaged, this could be a different story—especially if not doing that task causes the employer harm.

It is important to remember that employers are free to terminate a quiet quitter, as long as they provide the employee proper termination notice. This could be helpful in cases where employers are noticing that quiet quitters are negatively influencing their coworkers. For example, in Ontario, sections 54 and 57 of the Employment Standards Act requires employers to provide four weeks termination notice if the employee’s period of employment is four years or more and fewer than five years.

Another option is for employers to adapt if they wish to retain their top employees. It may be necessary to create policies and procedures that promote more of a work-life balance. Some employers aim to improve employee happiness and protect the workplace culture in order to get their desired quality of work and commitment from employees: they may avoid sending Sunday emails, giving weekend work, and having never-ending meetings. Employers may even resolve to increase employee pay, give more praise, and set goals based on achieving milestones and quality of work.

Perhaps the goal should be about preventing quiet quitting—there are some things that employers can do to prevent employees from becoming quiet quitters and keep employees engaged and committed:

• Foster a company culture that truly reflects the organization’s core mission and values so that employees feel that their work aligns with the company’s purpose.

• Develop a strong employee retention strategy by showing a commitment to creating a supportive environment for employees to thrive and have open communication.

• Provide training to managers, including explaining the importance of regular check-ins to stay connected with their teams and address any concerns before they escalate, reskilling managers to better understand stress and burnout, and offering targeted training programs and human resources development initiatives to help employees manage workloads effectively.

• Involving employees in decision-making is considered a strong strategy to potentially prevent quiet quitting, as it can make employees feel more valued, engaged, and invested in the company’s success, thereby reducing the likelihood of them disengaging and only doing the bare minimum work. When you empower your team member to make decisions, you’re also telling them that you trust their input.

• Creating a culture of open communication in the workplace will lead to increased trust and higher levels of engagement as employees feel more comfortable to self-advocate for their needs. To create a culture of open communication in your workplace, be transparent as possible. Don’t hide conversations by regularly hosting closed-door meetings. Closing your door makes the rest of your team feel excluded. Share your business goals publicly and offer regular updates on your progress towards meeting those goals. Encourage your managers to check in regularly with employees instead of assuming that everything is okay. Also, make it a point to communicate clearly and comprehensively so that none of your employees feel confused but hesitant to ask for greater clarification.

• Don’t micromanage. No one likes to be micromanaged. When you hire your employees to accomplish a set of tasks, trust their ability to do their job correctly. Give them goals and parameters and then get out of their way.

Employee silence isn’t always golden; it could be a sign of quiet quitting. Actively look for ways that you can help your employees and then do it, even without them asking you for help. To effectively prevent quiet quitting from happening in your organization, listen to your employees and remember to incorporate the above best practices.

By Christina Catenacci