Throughout the years, there have been numerous trends within the workforce. One of these trends, quiet quitting, is one you may have heard of post-pandemic. This trend was popularized in 2022 by TikTok user zaidleppelin, and Merriam-Webster defined it as the “practice of doing the minimum amount of work required for one’s job.” But what causes this disengagement at work? What were the underlying causes of quiet quitting? These are the questions Assistant Professors Justine Herve and Hyewon Oh aimed to discover in their interdisciplinary study.
TikTok user zaidleppelin referred to it as a rebalancing of expectations and no longer engaging within the hustle-culture mentality that work must be your life. Supporters claimed that it protects your mental health and helps you focus on your loved ones. Meanwhile, critics stated it is passive-aggressiveness and displays your lack of ambition. It is commonly attributed to work dissatisfaction, burnout, or lack of purpose.
Herve stated how quiet quitting isn’t necessarily negative, as the employees are still doing their expected tasks, just not the extra work. “Refusing to perform tasks beyond what is required contractually does not necessarily imply disengagement during the agreed-upon work hours,” she clarifies.
In post-pandemic years, its resurgence prompted the two researchers to study it, with Herve noting the publicity of #quietquit hashtags, and being similarly intrigued, wondering if it was just disengagement at work or a deeper reason. Due to the overlapping research fields (Herve researches labor economies while Oh researches consumer wellbeing for happier lives), they decided to team up to find out.
They published their study, Quiet Quitting in Times of Uncertainty: Definition and Relationship With Perceived Control in the journal Human Resource Management on June 1, 2025. The study details the lack of research on the relationship between perceived control and quiet quitting. Within it, they conducted two online surveys to conceptually redefine quiet quitting on a 5-item scale and to examine the relationship between perceived control and quiet quitting.
They found a negative association, which was explained through a strong sense of replaceability and reduced affective commitment to the employer. Moreover, periods of uncertainty, like political turmoil, economic instability, and health or climate crises, can diminish individuals’ sense of control over their environment.
However, the researchers think that quiet quitting can be lessened by employees having a voice and feeling like their contributions mattered. “That doesn’t just mean giving employees more tasks or perks,” Oh clarifies. “It’s about creating conditions where they feel their work has impact, their input is valued, and they’re not easily replaceable.” From involving employees in decision-making and giving them ownership over meaningful projects, these are only some of quiet-quitting-reducing behavior.
But quiet quitting isn’t the only trend spreading throughout the workforce. The latest phenomenon, quiet cracking, is gaining widespread traction. Quiet cracking is due to the persistent feeling of workplace unhappiness, which leads to disengagement, poor performance, and an increased urge to quit. It results from several factors, including a lack of clear goals, a heavy workload, and low engagement levels. According to a TalentLMS report, which surveyed 1,000 employers in various fields, 54% say they experienced some level of quiet cracking, while 47% say they have rarely or never felt that way. Moreover, because of economic uncertainty, the current job market has many employees avoiding leaving their jobs. As hiring is down and job-switchers’ wages are worse than job-stayers for the first time since the Great Recession, many feel stuck due to their lack of better choices.
Further investigation is necessary to understand how feelings of replaceability, diminished commitment, and other psychological processes translate a loss of control into quiet quitting.
However, Herve and Oh were excited to complete their interdisciplinary research. “Justine studies economics, and my work is in consumer psychology and marketing, which are pretty different disciplines,” Oh remarks. “But because of the multidisciplinary nature of our school, we were able to join forces on such an interesting project.”
