Workers say employers are guilty of 'quiet firing' them as the debate over 'quiet quitting' goes viral

bnguyen@insider.com (Britney Nguyen) - 

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The term "quiet quitting" is going viral online, but social media is pushing back at what it means.
Some argue the term is making employees look bad for just doing the job they're paid to do.
"Quiet firing" is placing blame on bosses for treating workers badly instead of firing them.

"Quiet quitting" is the latest buzzword taking over the workplace. But people on social media are arguing the term is focusing on the wrong problem.

The term, which took off on TikTok among millennials and Gen Zers, is referring to employees doing what their job expects of them, and not offering to do more than what they get paid to do.

In a post on the r/antiwork Reddit page, one user wrote that quiet quitting is just "someone only doing what's in their job description and nothing more."

"Why is it apparently an expectation that someone should do more than what they have been hired to do?," the user wrote.

Enter "quiet firing" — the response to quiet quitting.

Quiet firing, as people on social media are describing it, is when employers treat workers badly to the point they will quit, instead of the employer just firing them.

Related video: Quiet Quitting Duration 1:32  View on Watch

In a reply to a tweet about quiet quitting, software developer Randy Miller said, "A lot of talk about 'quiet quitting' but very little talk about 'quiet firing' which is when you don't give someone a raise in 5 years even though they keep doing everything you ask them to."

But a raise isn't the only indicator of quiet firing. Others on social media pointed to lack of respect from employers, and bosses expecting workers to do extra work without being compensated for it, as red flags.

Another Twitter user pointed to minimal paid time off and minimal sick time as indicators of being quietly fired, too.

The debate between quiet quitting and quiet firing is reminiscent of a larger conversation about the relationship between employers and employees.

For example, employers were complaining about employees "ghosting coasting" — showing up to work as a new employee for a few days, then leaving without notice before they could be fired for being under-qualified.

But employees said it was employers who had been ghosting job applicants for years, by not returning calls and not showing up to job interviews.

While employers are placing blame on employees for not going above and beyond at their jobs by calling them "quitters," the quiet-firing crowd is pointing out that they shouldn't have to if their needs can't be met too.

Have you been 'quiet fired,' or 'quiet fired' someone? Contact the reporter from a non-work email at bnguyen@insider.com.