‘Quiet Firing’ Is Taking the Workplace by Storm. What Is It Exactly?

By now, you’re probably familiar with “quiet quitting,” the workplace trend popular with Gen Z that puts mental health above on-the-job burnout.

But many workers say there’s a new buzz term floating around social media that’s less about protecting your peace of mind and more about nudging you towards insanity—”quiet firing.”

So what exactly does quiet firing mean?

Put simply, quiet firing is when employers intentionally treat you badly so that you will leave your job. It’s sort of like someone who wants to break up with but doesn’t have the courage to do it themselves.

Examples of quiet firing include: “going years without a raise or promotion, shifting responsibilities toward tasks that require less experience, or a deliberate withdrawal of development and leadership opportunities,” according to a post on LinkedIn News.

A recent article in HuffPost lists several more signs you’re about to get quiet fired:

• Your boss is MIA for much-needed conversations.

• You are placed on an unreasonable performance improvement plan.

So much talk about quiet quitting, where more effort should be spent talking about quiet firing.

– 1:1s frequently cancelled

– Lack of coaching / feedback

– No recognition given

– Overfocus on busy work vs impactful work

– Exclusion from chances to work on exciting projects

— Janel (@JanelSGM) August 31, 2022

Eighty Percent of Workers Have Seen Quiet Firing In Action

Quiet firing is undoubtedly clever word play, but is it a real thing? LinkedIn News conducted a poll last month to answer that question, asking if quiet firing was something they’d experienced.

Forty-eight percent of those surveyed say that they’ve seen quiet firing at work. An additional 38 percent say that “It’s real, and I’ve faced it.” Only 13 percent said the quiet firing “is not a thing.”