Quiet Quitting: The Complete Guide for HR and Leaders

Recognize this scenario? Your top performer—let’s call him Thomas—was the first to volunteer for every new project just six months ago. He stayed late, flooded Slack with ideas, and was the soul of the team. Today? Thomas does exactly what’s in his contract. Nothing less, nothing more. At 5:00 PM sharp, his status flips to "away," and he remains silent in meetings unless directly called upon. He hasn't resigned, he's physically in the office, but mentally... he's already gone.

This is a classic example of quiet quitting. If you think this is just a fleeting TikTok fad that faded with 2022, you are mistaken. In 2025, the phenomenon of quiet resignation has evolved into a systemic issue that quietly drains company budgets and destroys organizational culture more effectively than open turnover.

In this article, we will break quiet quitting down to its core components. No corporate jargon. We will analyze data, causes, and—most importantly—concrete strategies on how to regain employee engagement before it’s too late.

Definition: What Quiet Quitting Really Is (and What It Isn't)

Many managers wrongly interpret quiet quitting as simple laziness. This is a dangerous oversimplification. An employee who "quits quietly" still performs their duties. They often do them correctly. The difference lies in emotional withdrawal and setting thick boundaries.

It is the philosophy of "Act your wage." The employee stops equating their self-worth with their job. They stop taking on extra tasks without gratification, don't reply to emails on weekends, and refuse to participate in toxic productivity (hustle culture).

In short:

Quiet Quitting is a phenomenon where an employee limits their professional engagement strictly to the activities required by their employment contract, giving up initiative, overtime, and emotional investment in the company, often as a reaction to burnout or a lack of appreciation.

Differences You Must Know

To effectively manage this phenomenon, you must distinguish it from other employee states.

Market Context:

Currently, the phenomenon of quiet resignation is no longer just an act of rebellion by Gen Z. We see it in experienced professionals (Mid/Senior) who, after years of remote and hybrid work, have reevaluated their priorities. If your company still counts on employees working "for a handshake from the CEO," you have a problem.

Anatomy of the Crisis: Why Do Employees "Quit Quietly"?

Why does someone who was the star of the team suddenly fade out? From my experience working with HR departments, it is rarely about one thing. It is usually a culmination of factors.

A. The Gap Between Demands and Pay (Inflation vs. Wages)

This is the brutal truth. If the scope of responsibilities grows (because the company reduced staff and is "optimizing processes") while the real salary decreases due to inflation, the employee feels cheated. Quiet quitting then becomes a form of work-to-rule strike. The employee calculates: "If you pay me the minimum, you get the minimum."

B. Lack of Appreciation and Sense of Purpose

Humans are social beings. We need to know that our work matters. If the only reward for completing a project quickly is... another project to be done "yesterday," motivation drops to zero.

Lack of regular, sincere feedback and recognition is a highway to quiet quitting. And we are not talking about "Fruit Thursdays," but systemic solutions. This is where modern tools come in. Platforms like Nais, offering employee recognition modules, allow for sending instant "kudos" or small rewards. This builds a sense of being noticed.

C. Toxic "Hustle Culture" and Burnout

For years, we were told that work is the meaning of life. The generation now entering the market (and the one already there that has opened its eyes) rejects this dogma. Hustle culture, understood as staying late just for the sake of it, is passé today.

The causes of quiet quitting lie deep in the organization's culture. If a manager sends emails at 10:00 PM and expects an answer in the morning, they are asking for a crew rebellion. Employees protect their mental health by withdrawing.

D. Lack of Career Paths

Employee development isn't just safety training. If an employee doesn't see a prospect for promotion (horizontal or vertical) or a raise, they stop investing their energy in the company. They begin to treat their current job as a "waiting room" before finding something better.

Diagnostics: How to Spot Quiet Quitting in Your Team?

How do you recognize quiet quitting before it turns into a real departure? Most leaders only notice the problem the moment they receive a resignation letter. Meanwhile, warning signs appear for months.

Here is a checklist of behaviors that should set off a red light in your head:

1. Sudden silence in meetings: An employee who used to question the status quo and propose improvements is now silent and accepts everything without a word.
2. Social isolation: Avoiding integration, camera off on Teams/Zoom (if it was on before), lack of participation in casual conversations on the company messenger.
3. Strict adherence to hours: Computer turned off to the minute. Lack of flexibility that was previously the norm.
4. Drop in quality (to an "acceptable" level): Work is done, but "that special something" is missing. Reports are cursory, emails are curt.
5. Cynicism: Sarcastic comments about company initiatives or the future of the organization.

Real Life Scenario (Case Study):

Marta, a marketing specialist in a large IT company, carried the workload of three people for two years. When she asked for a raise, she heard that "the budget is frozen," right after the company announced record profits. Marta didn't leave. However, she stopped submitting ideas for campaigns, stopped training younger colleagues, and started using every break to the second. The result? The company had to hire an external agency for tasks Marta used to do "out of passion." Cost: an additional 15,000 PLN per month.

Quiet Firing: The Dark Side of the Coin

Speaking of quiet quitting, we cannot ignore the other side of the coin: Quiet Firing. This is a toxic response by employers or managers to problems with an employee.

Instead of having a difficult conversation, giving feedback, or creating a recovery plan, the manager starts "pushing" the employee out of the organization by:

• Skipping them for promotions and raises.
• Taking away interesting projects and assigning routine tasks below their competence.
• Isolating them from information and decisions.
• Intentionally setting unrealistic goals.

Preventing quiet quitting and quiet firing are interconnected vessels. Often, it is precisely quiet firing (even unconscious, resulting from manager negligence) that is the direct cause of an employee's quiet resignation. It is a vicious cycle of lack of communication.

Costs: How Much Does Disengagement Cost Your Company?

Do you think that since the employee isn't leaving and draws the same salary, the company loses nothing? The data is ruthless. The phenomenon of quiet quitting is a hidden tax you pay every day.

Market Data (2024/2025):

• According to the Gallup report (State of the Global Workplace 2024), low employee engagement costs the global economy $8.9 trillion, which constitutes 9% of global GDP.
• Gallup also indicates that in Europe, employee engagement is at a dramatically low level—only 13% of employees feel engaged in their work.
• Companies with high engagement rates record 23% higher profitability than those with low rates.

Where is the money leaking?

1. Lost innovation: "Quiet" employees don't improve processes. The company stands still.
2. lowered customer service quality: The client senses the employee's indifference.
3. Crisis management: Managers waste time on micromanagement and checking if work has been done.
4. Domino effect: The attitude of "quiet quitters" demotivates the rest of the team, who have to make up for the lack of initiative.

Exit Strategy: How to Build Engagement and Prevent Quiet Resignation?

Since we already know that employee engagement is the key to success, how do we rebuild it? You won't do it with a one-time integration party. You need systemic solutions.

Step 1: Personalization of Benefits (No more "same for everyone")

One of the main reasons for frustration is the mismatch of rewards to needs. A young father doesn't need a gym membership, and a single woman won't use a subsidy for children's holidays.

The solution is flexibility. Implementing a cafeteria system, such as the Cafeteria Module in Nais, allows employees to choose benefits that have real value for them. It’s a simple signal: "We respect your individual needs."

Step 2: Culture of Appreciation (Instant Gratification)

In 2025, feedback once a quarter is prehistory. Employees need feedback here and now.

• Actionable Tip: Introduce a ritual of "Friday kudos."
• Tools: Use technology to democratize appreciation. Apps allowing employees to reward each other (peer-to-peer) build bonds stronger than top-down praise from the CEO. This is motivating employees through community.

Step 3: Transparent Career Paths and "Stay Interviews"

Instead of waiting for the "Exit Interview" (when the employee leaves), start doing "Stay Interviews."

• Ask directly: "What makes you still work here?", "What could make you leave?"
• Build development plans based on strengths, not on patching holes.

Step 4: Fighting Micromanagement

Give people autonomy. If you hold them accountable for results, not for hours sat, the phenomenon of quiet resignation loses its reason for being. An employee who has influence over how and when they work feels co-responsible for the result.

Leadership Mistakes: Absolutely Do Not Do This

Many managers, seeing a drop in engagement, react with panic, making the situation worse. What to avoid?

1. Increasing control: Installing mouse-tracking software or forcing a return to the office (RTO) "on principle." This is the shortest path for quiet quitting to turn into loudly throwing down papers.
2. Pizza as a band-aid: Organizing a free lunch in the office as compensation for overtime and low wages. This only arouses irritation and a feeling of not being taken seriously.
3. Ignoring work-life balance: Calling employees on vacation with "just one question."
4. "It was harder in my day": Using arguments like "in my time we sat for 12 hours." Times have changed. The employee market has evolved. Such texts only show how out of touch the leader is with reality.

Important: Motivating employees is not about squeezing them like a lemon, but about creating conditions where they want to give more of themselves.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to questions that appear most often in the context of quiet quitting:

Is quiet quitting grounds for dismissal?

Theoretically no, if the employee performs their duties written in the contract. Firing an employee because they don't do "more than they have to" is legally risky. However, a long-term attitude of passivity often leads to a situation where the employee does not meet the growing demands of the position.

What are the main causes of quiet quitting?

The most important are: lack of adequate remuneration, burnout, lack of development prospects, poor management, and lack of a sense of appreciation.

Does quiet quitting concern only Gen Z?

No. Although Gen Z talks about it loudly on social media, this phenomenon affects every age group. Older employees just use this term less often, and more often simply "withdraw."

How to prevent quiet quitting?

The key is building a culture based on trust, regular feedback, flexible benefits (e.g., through platforms like Nais) and caring for the well-being and mental health of the team.

What is "Act your wage"?

This is a slogan linked to quiet quitting, meaning performing work in proportion to the salary received and not an ounce more.

What Can I Do?

Instead of a traditional summary, here are 4 things you must implement in your organization to win the battle for engagement in 2025:

1. Change your optics: Stop treating quiet quitting as a problem with "lazy people." Treat it as feedback on the condition of your organization and management style.
2. Invest in HR Tech: Manual management of benefits and appreciation in Excel is a relic. Use tools that facilitate relationship building (like Nais - boosting employee engagement) to automate the technical and focus on the human.
3. Talk, don't guess: Introduce "Stay Interviews" and regular 1:1 meetings where you don't talk about project statuses, but about job satisfaction.
4. Care for work hygiene: Respect your people's private time. A rested employee who does their job in 8 hours is more valuable than a burnt-out zombie sitting in the office for 12 hours.

Quiet quitting is not the end of the world. It is a chance to redefine the employer-employee relationship on healthier, more equal terms. Is your company ready for it?

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