Quiet Quitting
The practice of doing exactly what a job requires — no more, no less — without going above and beyond, often as a response to burnout or disengagement.
Quiet quitting became a widely discussed phenomenon in 2022, though the behaviour it describes is not new. It refers to employees who continue to show up and complete their assigned tasks but disengage from the discretionary effort that distinguishes genuinely engaged employees — mentoring colleagues, volunteering for stretch projects, or investing in the company's long-term success.
The term is something of a misnomer: quiet quitters are not quitting their jobs. Rather, they are consciously or unconsciously resetting the boundary between work and personal life — often in response to overwork, burnout, poor management, a lack of recognition, or disillusionment with the company's culture or direction.
For remote organisations, quiet quitting can be harder to identify because employees are not visually present. The best leading indicators are declining participation in meetings, fewer proactive communications, and reduced quality or initiative in output. Addressing quiet quitting requires understanding its root causes — which are almost always management or culture failures, not individual ones.