This post was led and co-authored by Justine Herve and Hyewon Oh.
Recent months have been marked by rising economic and political uncertainty. During this period, many firms that once took public stances on social issues have fallen silent on initiatives such as innovation, Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR), and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Internally, organizations have also trimmed discretionary investments in employees—cutting wellness programs, benefits, and professional development while maintaining only essential operations. These retreats are rarely announced. Instead, companies scale back quietly, limiting efforts to what is required to remain compliant, profitable, or competitive in the short term. We refer to this emerging phenomenon as companies “quiet quitting.”
Why Company Quiet Quitting Happens
One important reason why employees quiet quit is that they fear their contributions may not pay off, or worse, might backfire, particularly in uncertain contexts such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations can experience a similar reaction: Amid recent political, economic, and social turbulence, many companies face a loss of control over the link between discretionary efforts and intended desirable outcomes. As such, they perceive non-essential initiatives as more likely to be punished than rewarded, and in turn are…
