• quiet quitting

Quiet quitting is a common phenomenon in today’s working life, and it presents a growing misalignment between employee expectations and leadership approaches. Previous studies, as well as this thesis, challenge the stigma around quiet quitting and encourage an open dialogue between employees and employers for more balanced sharing of responsibility.

 Young professionals enter the working life full of excitement, motivation, and desire to finally put the lessons learned in school into practice. The opportunities feel endless. However, too often, these feelings quickly fade away. Some people seem to have different rules at the workplace; some get more recognition for the work they do; some do the same work but get paid more; some work less, so others have to work more; the list goes on. The feelings of inconsistency and inequality easily lead to exhaustion and disappointment. Why was I so in a hurry to get here?

Quiet quitting doesn’t mean actually resigning from a job; instead, it refers to a form of psychological withdrawal in which employees continue to fulfil their formal responsibilities but no longer feel willing to go beyond them. It reflects a disengagement in work and a mental distance that is used to protect one’s mental health and overall well-being. The phenomenon itself is not new, but it has received growing attention following changes in working life, including the increase in remote and hybrid work and new generations in the workplace. Previous studies have shown that quiet quitting is most common among young professionals under the age of 35, and this thesis also focused on this age group.

The Reasons Behind Quiet Quitting

Research in the thesis revealed the reasons behind quiet quitting to be related to the tasks and content of work, issues related to supervisors and management, and issues related to organizational culture and practices. Some of the reasons included:

• Disengaging content of work
• Unfair compensation
• Insufficient support from the supervisor
• Lack of emotional intelligence from the supervisor
• Inconsistent communication and leadership practices

Interestingly, salary and compensation were highlighted as even more important in the research than career development opportunities. These findings suggested that the expectations of these young professionals are not extensive, but quite realistic and call for fairness in working life as well as empathetic leadership. The significant importance of fair compensation might reflect the nature of employees’ and employers’ relationships today; both parties pursue their own interests, and monetary exchanges define the relationship. This kind of transactional psychological contract lowers engagement as well as emotional attachment to the organization.

Leadership Approaches to Prevent or Mitigate Quiet Quitting

 The thesis suggests that preventing quiet quitting starts with consistent and transparent leadership and communication practices across the organization. Supervisors’ leadership capabilities, especially their emotional intelligence skills, should be strengthened through training and development. Regular one-to-one meetings between employee and supervisor build trust and provide a natural place for feedback, and they allow changes in engagement to be noticed early. These practices only work if the basics are in place: fair compensation, equal treatment, and a manageable workload. In addition, work content and career development should be aligned with employees’ strengths, interests, and goals, which in turn strengthens commitment to the organization.

Quiet Quitting as a Signal

Quiet quitting is often viewed as an individual attitude problem, but the findings of this thesis suggest that it might actually reflect the conditions of work. As the research focused on young professionals, the findings cannot be generalized to all employee groups, and further research is needed to see whether similar factors explain disengagement at other career stages. Nevertheless, the experiences examined here point to factors that organizations can influence: communication, fairness, workload and opportunities for development. Responsibility for engagement is shared between employee and employer, but leaders should be alert to notice when something begins to change. If quiet quitting is a message rather than an attitude issue, what might organizations learn by listening to it?

References

Immonen, I. (2026). The Leadership Challenge of
Quiet Quitting – Adapting Leadership Approaches for Employee
Engagement. Master’s Thesis. Turku University of Applied Sciences.