What Is Silent Quitting?

Silent quitting, also known as “quiet quitting,” refers to when employees consciously decide to do the bare minimum required in their roles. They meet expectations, but don’t exceed them. They don’t volunteer for extra projects, voice new ideas, or seek leadership opportunities.

This trend gained traction during and after the pandemic, as many workers re-evaluated their relationship with work. It reflects a broader cultural shift toward protecting boundaries and pushing back against unsustainable demands.

But silent quitting is also a warning signal. It often stems from:

• Burnout and chronic overwork where employees are running on empty

• A lack of recognition, where effort feels invisible or unrewarded

• Broken trust after promises of career growth, autonomy, or fairness aren’t kept

• Cultural drift, where values are unclear or inconsistently lived by leaders

According to Gallup, more than 50% of employees in the US are quiet quitting, with the numbers significantly higher among younger generations (Gallup).

It's not a one-time decision. It’s a gradual retreat that often goes unnoticed, until performance drops, morale dips, or turnover rises.

Addressing Silent Quitting

Combating silent quitting isn’t about pushing employees to "do more." It’s about rebuilding connection and ensuring the workplace is worth showing up for fully.

Here’s how companies can start to re-engage quietly quitting employees:

1. Normalize Open Dialogue

   Silent quitting thrives in environments where employees don’t feel safe to speak up. Leaders should model transparency, ask honest questions, and actively listen. One-on-one check-ins should be about more than performance, they should also cover energy levels, blockers, and trust.

2. Rebuild Trust Through Consistency
   If employees see values written on the wall but not lived in meetings, the disconnect erodes engagement. Recognize where gaps exist between stated values and day-to-day experiences, and address them head-on.

3. Recognize More Than Results
   If the only people who get noticed are the loudest or most visible, you’ll lose the quiet top performers. Recognize collaboration, problem-solving, peer support, and cultural leadership, not just output.

4. Offer Clear, Fair Growth Paths
   Career stagnation is a common trigger for disengagement. Make sure employees know what it takes to grow. Ensure managers are equipped to have real conversations about development and expectations.

5. Make Work Sustainable
   Encouraging boundaries isn’t a threat to productivity, it protects it. Normalize breaks, flexible hours, and recovery time. People can’t give their best when they’re constantly depleted.

6. Build Community, Not Just Teams
   People are more engaged when they feel like they belong. Invest in cross-functional relationships, shared rituals, and opportunities to connect beyond daily tasks.

How Instill Can Help

Silent quitting doesn’t show up in KPIs, until it does. Instill helps companies spot the signs earlier.
With Instill, you can:

• Measure engagement and cultural alignment in real time

• Spot silent disengagement through communication trends and behavior signals

• Give managers weekly insights to have better, more human conversations

• Identify which teams or roles need support before turnover happens

By making culture visible and engagement trackable, Instill turns silent
quitting into a solvable problem, not a hidden threat.

Want to find out where disengagement may be hiding in your team? Visit instill.ai.

Cheers,
The Instill Team