Quiet quitting is a term that has been talked about a lot in recent weeks. It’s the conscious effort by employees to no longer do more than described in the job description – no overtime, extra duties, or taking on more without additional compensation. We recently published a blog about quiet quitting and it has come up in conversation a lot with recruiters.
Now another similar term is surfacing online – quiet firing. Below, our executive recruiters will define what quiet firing is, how it’s different from quiet quitting, and why employers are resorting to these actions.
What is quiet firing?
Quiet firing is the process of an employer subtly making employees quit by taking certain actions that cause them not to want to work for the employer. For example, an employer can continue to make it more challenging for an employee to do their job without providing them with extra compensation, resources, or assistance. Essentially, an employer just gives up on an employee and does not see them having a future at the company.
It’s not a direct response to quiet quitting, but it has a similar passive-aggressive approach to accomplishing an objective. It’s a way for employers to indirectly push people out of the company. Some point to it as a way to fire people without having to pay severance or to make it easier for a company to manage the parting of ways.
10 signs an employer is using quiet firing to get you to quit
Quiet firing is about making it uncomfortable and undesirable for an employee to want to stay. Some of the tactics companies use to quietly fire an employee include:
- Making workloads impossible to manage
- Not considering a person for promotions
- An unwillingness to give salary increases
- Not championing opportunities for employees to add new skills to utilize professional development
- Micromanaging employees
- Offering minimal feedback and poor performance reviews
- Not including certain employees in important conversations
- Reducing employees’ hours
- Not responding to employee requests or communications
- Taking away responsibilities
- Demotions
Employees essentially engage in these actions to try to get unwanted employees to quit, taking the easier road to get rid of someone. See the writing on the wall? It’s time to start looking for another job.
Get More Insights From Our Headhunters About Firing Employees
The First 8 Things to Do If You Just Lost Your Job
The Shocking and Not So Shocking Reasons People Get Fired
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