Zety's recent Quiet Firing Report shines a light on a widespread issue affecting today’s workplaces: managers subtly pushing employees to resign instead of outright firing them. It’s called “quiet firing” and, according to the data, 73% of American workers have experienced it.
The study places a number of employer behaviors under the umbrella of quiet firing. These include increased workload without commensurate pay, a tactic cited by 14% of employee respondents, and excessive micromanagement, experienced by 11%. Other reported strategies involve a lack of constructive feedback, reduced responsibilities without explanation, and the withholding of promotions or advancement opportunities.
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Interestingly, 70% of employees believe that return-to-office (RTO) mandates are being used as a deliberate strategy to encourage employees to quit.
Despite its seeming popularity among employers, the effectiveness of quiet firing (all moral issues aside) is questionable. Just over 12% of surveyed employees reported quitting due to quiet firing, even though a great majority said they’d experienced the tactic.
If quiet firing is good at one thing, it’s likely demoralizing and angering the workforce. Seventy-nine percent of employees said they’d prefer to be directly fired rather than endure the ambiguity and discomfort of being quietly pushed out. If confronted with quiet firing tactics, 25% said they’d confront their manager or HR department. According to the study’s authors, this proactive response highlights a growing awareness and intolerance for these subtle dismissal tactics.
It’s not totally clear why employers quietly fire instead of doing it outright. The surveyed workers point to a number of possible explanations: Avoiding legal complications, reducing confrontation or conflict, avoiding severance pay, and protecting the company’s image.
According to the report’s authors, the possible benefits of quiet firing pale in comparison to the cultural damage it can do: “Employers may believe they’re minimizing liability, but by avoiding transparency, they’re fostering a culture of silence—one where fear outweighs feedback and disengagement quietly spreads.”
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