Employee Engagement Dynamics in the Era of Quiet Quitting

Employee engagement dynamics in the era of quiet quitting encapsulate the emerging patterns of discretionary effort withdrawal, wherein employees meet but do not exceed formal job requirements. This phenomenon has gained prominence in post-pandemic workplaces, reflecting shifts in worker values towards work–life balance, meaningful recognition and psychological safety. Research indicates that quiet quitting arises from perceived breaches in mutual expectations, leading to cycles of disengagement driven by job burnout and diminished well-being. At organisational levels, stressors such as inflexible work conditions, lack of career progression and inadequate support exacerbate feelings of powerlessness, prompting employees to recalibrate effort. Conversely, factors that bolster engagement include transparent communication, authentic recognition and opportunities for autonomy and development. Globally, quiet quitting manifests across diverse sectors and populations, from academic lecturers to frontline healthcare workers, underscoring its broad relevance. Practical applications centre on redesigning psychosocial work environments, fostering open dialogue around expectations and implementing empowerment interventions to restore engagement and mitigate turnover risks. As research evolves, integrating multi-level perspectives and cross-cultural insights will be crucial to developing nuanced strategies that align organisational objectives with the evolving priorities of the workforce.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated that psychological empowerment can buffer the impact of work overload on quiet quitting intentions among university faculty, revealing that autonomy, competence and perceived influence mitigate job burnout and sustain employee well-being. Cross-national surveys of Generation Z employees highlight the influence of work conditions, perceived career development and organisational support on engagement dynamics, showing that improved support and progression opportunities significantly reduce propensity to limit effort. Analyses employing moral economy frameworks have mapped the changing lexicon of workplace motives—encompassing flexibility, meaningful work and self-care—illuminating how evolving societal values reshape expectations of employment and engagement.

Employee Engagement Dynamics in the Era of Quiet Quitting publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in employee engagement dynamics in the era of quiet quitting across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Quiet quitting: A form of employee withdrawal characterised by adhering strictly to formal job requirements and withholding discretionary effort.

Psychological contract: The unwritten set of mutual expectations between an employee and an organisation regarding obligations and rewards.

Employee well-being: The holistic experience of an employee’s physical, mental and emotional health within the workplace.

Job burnout: A psychological syndrome resulting from chronic work stress, manifesting as exhaustion, cynicism and reduced professional efficacy.

Psychological empowerment: The degree to which employees feel autonomous, competent and capable of influencing their work environment.

References

1. “You Pretend to Pay Me; I Pretend to Work”: A Multi‐Level Exploration of Quiet Quitting in the Greek Context. Human Resource Management (2025).
2. Great Resignation—Ethical, Cultural, Relational, and Personal Dimensions of Generation Y and Z Employees’ Engagement. Sustainability (2022).
3. Quiet quitting during COVID-19: the role of psychological empowerment. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2023).
4. Quiet Quitting among Nurses Increases Their Turnover Intention: Evidence from Greece in the Post-COVID-19 Era. Healthcare (2023).
5. Quiet Quitting as Compensatory Respect: Meaningful Work, Recognition, and the Entrepreneurial Ethic. Philosophy of Management (2024).
6. The moral economy of the great resignation. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2023).