You might have heard about quiet quitting. This is a growing trend where employees do exactly what their job requires—no more, no less. The reason? Many workers feel disconnected and undervalued at their companies.
Quiet quitting has already reached pandemic proportions. Gallup’s State of the Global Workforce 2022 report says only 21% of workers worldwide participate actively at work.
This means the vast majority of the workforce might be “quitting quietly”.
Quiet quitting reduces workplace productivity and team morale while decreasing employee participation. Employees usually think that they are setting boundaries and prioritizing their well-being. However, this practice brings potential risks for both careers and organizations.
If you are a team leader or operations manager, understanding this phenomenon is vital.
In this blog, you’ll learn ways to spot employees who may be quiet quitting. You’ll also discover effective ways to tackle this growing workplace challenge.
Let’s get started.
What is Quiet Quitting in the Workplace?
The term quiet quitting means doing just enough to meet your job requirements without putting in extra time or effort. Quiet quitters meet their main responsibilities but won’t participate in anything beyond their job description.
The term quiet quitting was first used by Bryan Creely, a career coach based in the USA. In a TikTok video, he described it as “doing the minimum amount necessary to still maintain your position”.
A similar movement called “Tang Ping” (meaning “lying flat”) started in China around 2021. Chinese workers used it to push back against their intense work culture.
How it is different from work-life balance
People often mix up quiet quitting with work-life balance, but they’re quite different. Setting boundaries, taking breaks, and ending work on time help create a healthy work-life balance. However, quiet quitting means checking out mentally, losing emotional connection, and doing the bare minimum work even during regular hours.
Quiet quitters often say they’re just making healthier choices about work and life. But this lack of engagement usually points to deeper problems:
- They stick to everyday tasks with zero initiative
- They avoid team activities and chances to grow
- They feel disconnected from their company’s goals and culture
What is silent quitting vs. quiet quitting
New workplace terms keep popping up and can be confusing. While people use “quiet quitting” and “silent quitting” to mean the same thing, other related terms have subtle differences.
- Soft quitting works much like quiet quitting. Employees stay in their jobs but check out mentally. But quiet quitting stands out more because you can see employees doing less and avoiding extra work.
- Resenteeism takes quiet quitting further. These workers don’t just lack interest – they actually hate their jobs.
- Quiet firing comes from the other side – managers make work unbearable so employees quit on their own. Many see this as a toxic way managers respond to quiet quitting.
These differences help both employees and managers learn about why it happens and fix issues before people completely disconnect.
Why Are Employees Quiet Quitting in 2025?
Many factors push employees to disconnect from their work without formally resigning. These include:
Burnout and mental fatigue
Employee burnout remains the main reason behind quiet quitting. Research shows that 70% of employees experienced burnout in 2022, and this trend has been growing ever since.
Burnout shows up as physical and emotional exhaustion. This makes it harder for employees to maintain enthusiasm and commitment. Then, many workers retreat to doing the minimum requirements to protect themselves against stress.
Workers see quiet quitting as an escape when burnout increases. This creates a troubling cycle—as more employees disconnect, workloads increase for those who stay engaged. This pattern can trigger additional burnout throughout the organization.
Lack of recognition and growth
Research shows that 79% of employees would stop quiet quitting if they received more recognition. This emphasizes how vital acknowledgment is for workplace involvement. Employee motivation naturally drops when their efforts go unnoticed or unappreciated.
Career progression opportunities matter just as much. Professionals often look elsewhere when they don’t see clear advancement paths. Today, most employees plan to quit their jobs within two years if they see limited growth potential.
Workers question the value of extra effort without tangible rewards or future advancement. The drive to “go above and beyond” fades without clear development pathways.
Toxic or unclear workplace culture
48% of Gen Z respondents call toxic work culture the main reason for quiet quitting. Poor communication, favoritism, lack of transparency, and weak management support create environments where employees feel undervalued.
Employees often hesitate to speak up or push for change in toxic cultures. They emotionally disconnect while doing minimal duties instead of raising concerns.
Employees tend to quit quietly, especially when they have emotionally disconnected cultures where output matters more than well-being.
Mismatch between effort and reward
Workers feel disconnected between their input and rewards. Quiet quitting becomes a logical response to workplace inequity. Seeing coworkers earn more for similar work creates disengagement and resentment.
Employees reduce their extra effort when organizations don’t value their contributions through proper recognition, advancement opportunities, or respect.
How to Spot the Signs of Quiet Quitting
Here are the signs that help you detect what is quiet quitting before it spreads to your whole team.
Reduced participation in meetings
Team members who used to contribute but now sit silently in meetings might be quiet quitting. They show up just to be counted, but their cameras remain off and microphones muted. These employees don’t share ideas, ask questions, or offer input during discussions.
This drop in meeting engagement often signals the start of someone’s mental disconnect from their role.
Minimal effort in team projects
Quiet quitters do what’s asked but avoid extra work beyond simple requirements. They stick to their job descriptions and do just enough to avoid termination while showing no interest in team success. You’ll notice previously helpful employees pull back from supporting colleagues or joining group projects.
Avoiding extra responsibilities
People who start quiet quitting say no to new projects they would have jumped at before. They push back against tasks outside their role and show no interest in learning or growth opportunities. This behavior often comes from feeling underappreciated or believing extra work won’t pay off.
Emotional detachment from work
Employees who disconnect emotionally don’t care about workplace results—success or failure means nothing to them. They stop caring about the company’s goals and mission. You’ll hear them speak negatively about their work or the organization, which shows they’ve lost their professional drive.
Decline in communication and collaboration
The last red flag shows up in team interactions. Quiet quitters share only what they must but stay away from meaningful workplace conversations. They take their time responding to messages, skip team activities, and work alone. Poor communication hurts team collaboration and affects everyone’s productivity.
Managers who catch these warning signs early can fix the root causes before quiet quitting spreads through their teams.
The Real Impact of Quiet Quitting on Organizations
Quite quitting can create ripple effects across teams, departments, and even entire companies.
Lower productivity and innovation
Quiet quitting can impact team productivity when employees do only the minimum work required. Taking longer to solve complex problems or reduced cross-functional collaboration can be a sign that some people on your team may be quiet quitting.
For example, if you manage an R&D department, quiet quitting could result in lower patent application rates or implementation failures across projects.
Increased pressure on engaged employees
The rest of the team often steps up when quiet quitters reduce their contributions. In such a situation, a vicious cycle emerges where engaged employees experience burnout, trying to take on more work to support the team. This leads to frustration and resentment among those still giving their full effort.
The imbalance breeds more disengagement as team members question why they should maintain high effort levels while others do minimal work.
Financial and reputational risks
Data from McKinsey shows that the cost of disengagement is around 4% of the annual payroll budget for an average large corporation.
It’s cascading effect impacts product/service quality, which in turn leads to lower customer satisfaction, damaging the company’s brand image. High turnover rates—often following quiet quitting periods—add financial strain through higher recruitment and training costs.
How it affects team morale and culture
Quiet quitting is known to increase negative employee perceptions by 27% across an organization. Individual instances of disengagement create feedback loops that spread across teams and departments quite quickly.
Employees’ belief in management’s competence and organizational integrity declines. Ultimately, the company culture tends to become apathetic and complacent.
What Can Businesses Do About Quiet Quitting?
Timely interventions can help businesses win back their employees’ commitment and enthusiasm. Here’s how:
Improve leadership and communication
Manager training in emotional intelligence, empathy, and listening skills is key to preventing quiet quitting. This can be achieved by:
- An open-door policy lets employees voice their concerns without fear of consequences and creates psychological safety.
- Asking open-ended questions like “Do you feel like you’re thriving? Why or why not?” .
Offer skills development and career development opportunities
Regular learning initiatives help employees stay current with industry trends and show investment in their future. These can help your company hire and promote candidates effectively while retaining high performers for longer.
Promote professional boundary setting
Companies should maintain reasonable workloads, respect personal time, and create policies that let employees disconnect during off-hours without consequences.
Recognize and reward contributions
Studies show 79% of employees would stop quiet quitting if they received more recognition. Simple but consistent acknowledgment builds a culture where people value contributions.
Encourage mental health and well-being
Counseling services and work-life balance initiatives show the organization’s steadfast dedication to employee well-being. Virtual wellness programs help remote teams stay connected while supporting their personal health.
Use feedback tools to monitor engagement
Employee engagement platforms give up-to-the-minute data analysis of workforce sentiment. Pulse surveys and anonymous feedback channels help spot disengagement early. Leadership teams can track trends, measure against industry standards, and create targeted interventions based on evidence-based findings.
Conclusion
Quiet quitting has become more than just another workplace trend. This phenomenon affects organizational productivity, team dynamics, and individual career growth.
Quiet quitting poses serious challenges, but understanding why it happens enables meaningful action. Most employees start their careers with enthusiasm—they withdraw only when workplace conditions don’t meet their needs. Better workplace conditions not only prevent quiet quitting but also create an environment where innovation and productivity thrive.
Key Takeaways
Understanding quiet quitting is essential for navigating today’s workplace challenges and building stronger, more engaged teams.
