Study Shows 77% Of Workers Have Been Impacted By 'Quiet Cutting' — The Latest Sad Workplace Trend
A passive-aggressive approach to office dynamics.
Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock The culture of a workplace can make or break how employees feel about their jobs. The more direct communication and transparency that exists, the more likely workers will feel supported and seen. However, that's often not the case.
Some upper management uses one tactic that tends more toward a passive-aggressive approach to dealing with their employees: quiet cutting.
A study found that 77% of workers have been impacted by the latest sad workplace trend, ‘Quiet cutting.’
Quiet cutting can be seen as the inverse of quiet quitting. When a worker quiet quits, they don’t officially leave their role, but they do cut back on how much effort they put in, taking on only the bare minimum of work.
In a similar yet slightly more malicious vein, quiet cutting can be defined as employers decreasing someone’s workload, responsibilities, or salary in an attempt to force them to quit on their own accord.
A survey conducted by Monster, the job search site, discovered that 77% of workers have been witness to quiet cutting in their workplace. 58% reported being personally impacted by quiet cutting, meaning they’ve left their jobs due to their role being diminished.
Vicki Salemi, a career expert at Monster, explained how quiet cutting affects employees, saying, “It’s essentially pushing them out the door — Their downgraded role prompts them to quit on their own.”
Salemi noted that quiet cutting often occurs in “an already existing toxic environment that tends to operate in passive-aggressive ways.”
The rise of quiet cutting benefits employers over their employees because someone who quits on their own accord doesn’t have access to severance benefits, like being able to collect unemployment. This type of behavior flourishes when managers don’t feel required to give their workers straightforward explanations or any level of transparency around company goals.
Engaging in quiet cutting creates an overall negative vibe within a workplace, as employees start to lose trust in management.
Data from the survey revealed that quiet cutting makes employees feel as though they can’t rely on their workplace to support them.
According to Monster, 71% of people who have witnessed quiet cutting or been quietly cut off themselves, reported that they lost interest in staying with their company, long-term. Eighty percent said they lost a sense of trust or loyalty for the company.
With a lack of trust comes a loss in morale, which can create an atmosphere where employees are marginally engaged in the workplace. It can harm workplace productivity — 58% of workers who have noticed quiet cutting "feel less motivated to execute their duties," — which ends up costing companies money, anyway, just not in the form of severance.
Quiet quitting can be viewed as a way for workers to take back some semblance of control over their work lives. By declining to give 110% or even a full 100%, they’re putting their own needs first and regaining a much-needed sense of work-life balance.
Quiet cutting is far less ethical and shows a complete lack of appreciation and respect for employees.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.