The so-called ‘quiet quitting’ trend is more damaging than helpful to careers, especially for millennials and Gen Zs, but employers should be wary of responding to any perceived instances of the phenomenon with any ‘quiet firing’ of their own. Instead, the remedy will be a two-way street between employers and staff to nurture mutual respect and boost morale.

Quiet quitting can be seen as the rejection of the formerly widely accepted hustle culture and instead adopting an attitude of doing the bare minimum to not get fired. The trend has been seen particularly prominently among Millennials and Gen Zs who have resorted to turning down the dial and acting their wage, rejecting the once-held notion of going above and beyond.

Why is this? It could be for a number of reasons, but not least a delayed response to the burnout caused by the pandemic, as well as concerns over inflation and salaries failing to keep up with the rising cost of living.

But for whatever reason, behaving like this at the start or in the earlier years of your career could be damaging. This is a critical time when talented workers should be grasping as much opportunity and gaining as much kudos as possible to set up a long and fruitful career. By adopting this attitude and work ethic this early on, it may prove challenging to bounce back from it.

It remains to be seen what impact this trend will have on nationwide productivity and the wider economy – these aftereffects of the pandemic burnout and a clear disengagement with work could be very detrimental.

So, instead of following the quiet quitting trend and coasting along at work, savvy and ambitious employees should be taking this opportunity to steal a march on their peers. Now more than ever, hopeful and ambitious talent should be pulling out all the stops to

prove themselves and progress faster while seemingly the competition’s heads are down. If you are quiet quitting, then you may as well resign or go elsewhere because you won’t get a pay rise or a promotion that way.

We’ve seen many business leaders and managers responding to quiet quitting with an anti-movement, labelled ‘quiet firing’, whereby passive aggressive tactics are used to push an employee out such as overworking staff, excluding them from emails and meetings, and assigning them less-favourable tasks. While both of these trends are simply old tactics with new names, managers and HR heads should take heed because of the potential employment law ramifications.

Employers need to be very cautious in handling their employment policies and the laws around the topic. The potential for a constructive dismissal case is high, and such situations need to be handled with the utmost sensitivity. It’s also very common to see employees collectively ‘ice out’ a colleague for not carrying their weight or who aren’t a good cultural fit. In this case, managers and HR heads should be spotting signs of this and intervening as soon as possible.

It’s also worth considering that quiet quitting and firing trends could be indicative of a poor workplace culture, lack of engagement and failing to effectively train and manage staff. All of which could be headed off by improving workplace culture, practices and boosting staff morale. Employers should be, if they aren’t already, upskilling staff and offering as many opportunities as possible to level up. If staff are disengaged, burnt out, and neglecting their duties and responsibilities, the chances are they’re not being developed and progressed enough.

In today’s job market, in particular, employers should be doing their utmost to nurture, engage and retain staff. Unemployment is at its lowest since 1974, yet there’s a 2.8 per cent drop in the value of real wages because pay rises cannot keep up with soaring inflation. This means there are lots of jobs but not enough people to fill them. These types of market conditions breed jittery workers unless you can engage them.

If there’s anything to be investing in during this time, it’s your staff – a win-win for the company and far cheaper than hiring someone else. Providing ample training and development opportunities are attractive to ambitious workers. Making staff feel valued in this way is also more likely to make them want to stay with you and, not least, not want to do the bare minimum.