Quiet Quitters Or Quiet Firers Blink 1st?

Quiet Quitting may quietly lead to being quietly fired, especially for slackers who can’t believe their luck since out of sight these recessionary days can mean a boss obsessed with productivity is putting them out of mind…

That’s the warning issued by WSJ reporter Callum Borchers: “It can feel like you’re getting away with it. You’ve dialed down the intensity at work, passing on late nights & extra assignments with seemingly no negative consequences. In fact, your boss appears to respect your new boundaries & has lightened your workload. Careful. Your ‘quiet quitting’ can lead to your ‘quiet firing’ – & eventually your actual firing. It’s already happening in some companies, HR specialists say.”

Gallup says up to half of the US workforce is quietly disengaged from their jobs, i.e., “doing only what’s in their job descriptions & no more. For much of the pandemic, Borchers writes, “executives have largely put up with this. In a tight labor market, a warm body is better than nobody.” However, with more businesses now also expecting a deepening recession, employment consultant Paul Lesser says, many are taking a closer look at the “poor performers.” Companies have always had subtle ways to nudge people out the door, including sidelining by way of cutting responsibilities, denying promotions & raises or even dumping menial tasks on a given target. “The difference now is the scale,” said Borchers. “Many companies are renewing their focus on what employees put out at the same time that a lot of workers are recalibrating what they put in.” Could another difference now be seen in which side blinks first?

Davd Soul