Quiet quitting sounds like it should be nice, almost like you’re leaving the office without making a sound. But the reality is different. Quiet quitting usually involves doing exactly what your job asks for & nothing more, so no staying late or taking on extra projects.
When people quietly quit, they think they’re being smart about wanting to leave. Yet it’s a lot more obvious than they might recognize. How? And why? Let’s find out.
Key takeaways
You’ll learn about:
- What quiet quitting involves
- The reasons why people decide to quiet quit
- How quiet quitting becomes obvious to other people
- The research behind quiet quitting
What quiet quitting actually means
Researchers have been studying the idea of quiet quitting for many decades. Essentially, it involves pulling back effort & keeping quiet when you used to speak up, while also avoiding the small things that usually keep things running efficiently. Yes, you’ve shown up to your work, but you’ve mentally checked out. You’re helping less.
While it might seem random at times, quiet quitting is a deliberate form of rebellion for people against their jobs. The emotional effort & creative energy are missing in quiet quitters. It’s not something that people will openly speak out about, nor is it the same as slacking. But it’s there.
Why people do it
People don’t decide to quiet quit because they’re bored or trying to be disrespectful. In reality, quiet quitters usually do so because they’re burned out & feeling a sense of stress that won’t go away. They feel like all the extra effort they put into their job simply doesn’t matter.
It’s easy to feel like that when your work eats into your evenings or your boss seems to only care about numbers. Quiet quitting helps some employees maintain a sense of balance between work & their personal lives. It’s also a form of self-preservation for other workers. They argue that they need to take this time to step away from their work responsibilities for a bit.
Whatever the reason, it leads to the same results. Less drive & less talk, as well as less time spent on the clock.
Attendance & time stamps
Sure, nobody’s going to openly admit that they’re quiet quitting. But the numbers give it away. They’ll have more late starts & sick days, and they’ll likely log off their computers right at five o’clock. Each of these small decisions starts to become something much clearer, and the majority of managers will notice the pattern almost immediately.
HR systems also track practically everything at work, including timecards & meetings. They also watch people’s response rates slow down. It becomes quite obvious when people start to ease off, even though they might not want to say it out loud. Yet numbers don’t lie.
Only doing what is required of you is quite obvious to such systems, since they’ll be able to see that you have fewer hours logged & have completed fewer optional tasks. It’s more of a measurable issue than a personal one.
Showing up, holding back
Presenteeism is almost the opposite of quiet quitting, although it’s still a form of checking out at work. It involves showing up to work but only being half there. Presenteeists are at their desks physically, but not mentally, and they lack the ambition that they once had. It also causes productivity to decline.
What makes presenteeism different from quiet quitting is that it’s less obvious. You still look present & seen. But you’re not really seen for who you are at work.
When helping drops, people notice
The majority of workplaces run on small favors, like answering a quick question or covering a shift. They’re an extra part of your job, an unpaid form of teamwork that keeps the workplace running as it should. People notice when actions like these disappear.
Coworkers will recognize when someone’s no longer pulling their weight as much, and it’s often before the managers do. They’ll recognize that the atmosphere in the office has changed. They’ll work out that Slack conversations are a little quieter. That’s not to say that it’s gossip, but rather, workers can sense when the invisible glue holding the team together has vanished.
Fewer ideas & warnings reach the room
The “quiet” part of “quiet quitting” really comes from staying silent. People stop sharing their ideas or offering feedback to their coworkers because they feel like it’s pointless. It’s what many researchers refer to as “employee silence.”
Why do people go silent? It’s simply because they’re tired of their colleagues ignoring them, or perhaps they don’t think it’s safe to share their opinions out loud. Their silence becomes a message that they’re unhappy with the way things are going at work.
But other people see this. They can recognize that you’ve become more silent & they’re not always going to ignore it.
What managers & teammates actually see day to day
Showing up to work is one thing, but those around you will be able to notice that you’re not the worker that you once were. Some of these include:
- A coworker who used to volunteer no longer does so
- Replies in Slack or emails are slower & shorter
- Less small talk
- Cameras stay off during meetings
- Only necessary work gets done, and extra/optional tasks are ignored
It may not seem like a problem on the surface, but altogether, it’s quite clear that something’s up. Everyone can sense the issue. They just might not call it “quiet quitting” by name.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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