‘Quiet quitting’ isn’t really about quitting. Here are the signs.

Burnout is at an all-time high. Here’s what managers should be on the lookout for.

August 21, 2022 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
“Quiet quitting” is gaining popularity as employees continue to reevaluate their relationships to their jobs. (iStockphoto)

Quiet quitting is taking social media by storm, but you might not have noticed.

The term is a bit of a misnomer, because quiet quitters aren’t walking away from their jobs. Instead they’re renouncing hustle culture, quitting “the idea of going above and beyond at work,” as TikTok user zaidleppelin said in a July post that has amassed more than 3 million views and helped popularize the phrase. The trend is resonating strongly with those Gen Z and millennial knowledge workers fighting to rewrite the rules of the workplace.

Here’s what managers should know, according to experts.