After all the changes in the working world, quiet quitting appeared as a response to the hustle culture. There’s a thin line between quiet quitting and setting boundaries, employees claim. But the question that arises is whether quiet quitting is just a response to the quiet firing.
Understanding Quiet Quitting
Even though the name suggests that people are quitting, it actually means that an employee performs the duties assigned to them and does not go above and beyond what their job description requires them to do.
Without expressing the intention to quit, an employee's emotional and mental disengagement impacts his job performance, leaving him with a lack of enthusiasm and poor productivity.
With that kind of work approach, quiet quitting can eventually affect the company's performance.
Reasons for Quiet Quitting
Reasons for quiet quitting can be various, regarding employees' duties, work environment, management, or company culture. It is highly likely an employee will dive into quiet quitting if:
- his workload is becoming heavier, leading to burnout,
- his efforts are not acknowledged or are inadequately compensated,
- the company culture isn't growth-encouraging,
- there's a lack of management and team support.
Below, we listed some of the common reasons for quiet quitting.
Impact of the pandemic on work-life balance awareness
With Gen-Z entering the workforce when the pandemic hit, the whole perspective has shifted. People realized during the pandemic how important the work-life balance is, and once physical offices were back, many saw how much time they were wasting commuting, while they were more efficient when working from home.
As a result, employees are shifting focus to setting workplace boundaries and ensuring a better work-life balance, learning to say no to the additional responsibilities at work and not checking emails outside office hours.
Does this mean that the hustle culture is over?
The rise of the great resignation trend
The first consequence was the great resignation trend, and when inflation hit the economy, the workforce turned to quiet quitting. For instance, from 2019 to 2022, the percentage of engaged employees under the age of 35 dropped by six percent. During this time, the percentage of actively disengaged employees increased by the same number.
Poor management as a major factor contributing to quiet quitting
However, all of this doesn’t mean that everyone is on board with quiet quitting, and there is no reason for employers to be afraid of this trend. Many HR managers agreed that new recruits and people coming to job interviews are eager to start working.
One of the main reasons detected for quiet quitting is poor management. Surprisingly, the statistic shows that only one in three managers are engaged at work. This means that the leadership needs a new set of skills to adjust to the new hybrid environment.
The importance of engaged leadership and addressing employee disengagement
Fostering a culture that encourages an employee to address his concerns timely and proactively to the management, and vice versa, can prevent quiet quitting as a trend.
Managers should learn how to address disengagement and burnout, to help employees overcome the issues. Research shows that only one meaningful conversation per week with team members can help the engagement.
Exploring Quiet Firing
On the opposite, quiet firing means that employers are avoiding to provide anything but the legal minimum to the employees with the goal of getting unwanted workers to quit.
In practice, employers:
- might not provide employees with salary raises for years,
- neglect to give feedback,
- block employees from promotion,
- treat them differently from the rest of the team,
- have inconsistent performance standards, etc.
Embracing Remote Work and Advantages for Employers
This whole thing looks like employers and employees are daring one another to end the contract. And the fact is, remote work offers the opportunity for both.
Even though it is not a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to overcoming challenges of both quiet quitting and quiet firing, remote work can be helpful, bringing forth enhanced communication, flexibility, and work-life balance that improves employees' overall productivity.
No risk of quiet quitting with us
There are much more advantages of hiring remotely than disadvantages, especially now that the borders are no longer a limitation for hiring, and you don’t even have to have an entity in a foreign country. All you need is an EOR/PEO Europe service provider who will help you with the full process of hiring and managing your employees. There’s no risk of quiet quitting there.
With EuroDev HR Outsourcing, you can hire abroad fast without worrying about setting up an entity. You will stay compliant in every European country of your choice and you will have an excellent team experienced to offer necessary HR support. Let’s chat about next steps for your hiring in Europe.
Disclaimer: While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, please note that HR policies and regulations can change frequently. It is recommended that you seek guidance from our HR consultants to ensure that the data presented here is current and accurate.
Source: Gallup, The Washington Post, Bloomberg
