Qu'est-ce que Quiet Quitting ?
Definition
Quiet quitting is a workplace phenomenon — popularised through social media in 2022 — in which employees limit their effort and involvement strictly to their formal contractual obligations, deliberately opting out of discretionary effort, after-hours availability, or emotional investment in their work. The employee does not resign but mentally and motivationally disengages.
In practice
Quiet quitting is typically a response to: perceived unfairness (effort not recognised or rewarded); burnout from sustained overload; poor management quality; lack of meaning or development perspective; or disillusionment following a negative event (passed-over promotion, ignored feedback). Gallup's global employee engagement research consistently shows that approximately 60% of employees globally are "quiet quitting" — engaging only minimally. It is a more insidious problem than active disengagement because it is invisible until performance metrics begin to lag. Management responses that work include: meaningful recognition, career conversations, clarifying expectations, addressing psychological safety, and reconnecting individuals to purposeful work. Surveillance-based responses (monitoring software, performance policing) typically worsen the dynamic.
Key takeaway
Quiet quitting is a symptom, not a character flaw — when talented people limit their effort to the minimum, the question is always what happened to their motivation, not what is wrong with them.
Définitions connexes
Bore-out
Syndrome of professional exhaustion caused not by overload but by chronic boredom and lack of stimulation at work, leading to disengagement and demotivation.
Burnout
State of severe chronic exhaustion — physical, emotional and mental — caused by prolonged exposure to occupational stress, characterised by exhaustion, cynicism and reduced professional efficacy.
The Great Resignation
Mass resignation wave that began in the United States in 2021, spreading globally, where millions of workers voluntarily left their jobs in search of better conditions, meaning or balance.
Retention Rate
Proportion of employees who remain with an organisation over a given period. A high retention rate signals a healthy, engaging work environment.