Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Sep 06, 2025

The growing trend of 'quiet quitting' - and whether you should worry about being 'quiet fired'

The growing trend of 'quiet quitting' - and whether you should worry about being 'quiet fired'

Quiet quitting has become a big buzzword, so much so that it was named one of Collins Dictionary's words of the year (beaten by permacrisis). But is it actually a particularly new concept? And how does it compare to quiet firing?
The clock strikes 4pm. You've been working for seven hours. Time appears to have stopped - and when it comes to passing the time, that project you could make a head-start on sounds like the least appealing thing in the world.

You've been to all your meetings, replied to all your emails, and have surely earned the right to do the absolute bare minimum - or perhaps even less - until it's time to log off.

After all, that promotion you wanted went elsewhere. Your wages are stagnant. You think your employer seems indifferent about you, perhaps it's time to be indifferent about the job.

If this sounds like you, you may be a classic case of a "quiet quitter".

But don't worry, you're not alone.

Well, maybe worry a bit, but we'll get to that.

What is quiet quitting?

Quiet quitting has become a buzzword, so much so that this week it was named one of Collins Dictionary's words of the year (beaten by permacrisis).

The concept really took off over the summer, when #quietquitting began trending on TikTok, as wannabe lifestyle gurus empowered their followers to resist unsatisfying work culture.

Interest in the phrase absolutely skyrocketed, with analysis by Similarweb showing more than 1.2 million online searches during August alone.

Many were people wondering what quiet quitting even is.

"Simply put, it is where an employee puts no more effort into their job than is absolutely necessary," Anisha Patel, applied research consultant at Steelcase, told Sky News.

You may rightly point out that this sort of thing has been going on for time immemorial, and all that's changed is a trendy TikTok personality has stuck a new term on it.

I mean, just watch this scene from The Simpsons from back in 1995.

"If you don't like your job, you don't strike, you just go in every day and do it really half-assed!"



The role of social media

"Nothing in the data would suggest there's something substantially different happening," says David D'Souza, membership director at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

But social media rubs off on people in a way that can make quiet quitting something we stop thinking about subconsciously and - somewhat ironically - actively work towards.

From dieting to money-making, hashtaggable rallying cries can completely change how we operate - if we think everyone we're following is doing it, why not try it too?

"What's new is the ability of social media to convey and make viral things that, previously, people would not have spoken up about," Mr D'Souza told Sky News.

Professor Emma Parry, from Cranfield School of Management, agrees social media has simply given a fresh face to an old problem.

"It's a good thing people can reach out for support on social media, and we know it can be positive - this is really about voice, and that’s more and more important for employees," she told Sky News.

"If this is about people working their set hours, moving away from the long-hours culture we've had historically, I'd say that’s a good thing.

"But if we mean employees becoming disengaged, not making to want an effort, then we know that can make employees less productive."

Do you need to worry about 'quiet firing'?

As Mr D'Souza points out, there is something of an irony in people speaking so loudly about something "quiet".

But as quiet quitting rises to prominence in our collective lexicon, is another rising to meet it?

If quiet quitting is about giving voice to disengaging from your work, quiet firing is the same for employers who have disengaged from staff.

With the move to hybrid working, the risk of being "quiet fired" may have become all the greater.

Take Microsoft: its latest report on work trends reveals while 87% of employees felt they were productive, 85% of bosses said hybrid working made it difficult for them to be confident of that.

Jemma Fairclough-Haynes, CEO of Orchard Employment Law, said technology and the shift to working from home "accelerated" the quiet quitting trend, as people sought to draw boundaries.

"For some who've continued not having that watchful eye on them all the time, it means can do... just enough."

Some organisations are boosting surveillance as a result. Research by VMware found 57% of UK companies have already implemented or are planning measures to monitor productivity since the shift to hybrid.

Natalie Cramp, CEO of data science firm Profusion, told Sky News such a "Draconian" policy would never work.

"I don't recommend it," adds Ms Fairclough-Haynes.

Professor Parry sees a more positive role for technology, making effective use of platforms like Teams, Zoom and "internal social media" to build relationships and discuss issues that lead to disengagement.

What's certain is that quiet firing isn't a healthy answer.

"Quiet firing is normally being used if the employer would like someone to… instead of being fired, realise it’s not a good fit, and therefore resign," says former self-confessed quiet firer Rebecca Leppard.

"It normally works better for the company because they don’t get severance, there’s no dispute - it’s a clean break."

For Ms Leppard, the process of quiet firing, being relatively inexperienced aged 26, was awful. She has since been a quiet quitter, too, on one occasion to retreat from a "toxic" workplace.

Thirteen years on from her quiet firing experience, Ms Leppard sees the new lingo as an opportunity to improve practices on both sides. She now runs Upgrading Women, a "training for retaining" firm aimed at women in tech.

Whether through salary, development, or a sense that work is truly valuable, experts agree employers must find a way to get on top of these "quiet" trends.

"Trust at work, quality of management, understanding how employees are feeling, how motivated they are - if this conversation helps brings them to the fore, that can only be good for people and organisations," says Mr D'Souza.

As Ms Leppard says, "the dangerous thing about quiet quitting is you're paying someone to keep the seat warm".
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×