Quiet firing

What It Means

Quiet firing is nudging an employee toward quitting instead of dealing with them openly. Gallup describes it as neglect that slowly pushes someone out of a job, as a manager stops giving coaching, support and chances to develop. It can also look like duties being taken away, being left out of meetings, or being passed over for good assignments until leaving feels like the only option.

How People Say It at Work

• "I think I'm being quiet fired."
• "They took my best accounts and stopped inviting me to planning."
• "My manager hasn't held a one-on-one with me in two months."

The Breakdown

What to do if you think it's happening (Buhata's suggestion)

1. Write down each change with its date: a canceled meeting, a duty moved, a project you weren't told about.
2. Ask your manager directly, in a one-on-oneOne-on-one meetingA regular private meeting between a manager and one person who reports to them, used for check-ins, feedback, problems and career growth. See more: "How am I doing, and what would you like to see more of?"
3. Put what you need in writing, such as a goal, a training course or the next step toward promotion, and note the answer.
4. Keep copies of reviews, praise and the emails that assigned or removed your work.
5. Talk to HR or a manager above yours if direct questions get no real answer.
6. Look at your options: update your resumeResumeA short document that sums up your work history, skills, education and results for an employer, usually sent with a job application. See more and think about what you'd want from a next role, so a decision isn't made for you in a rush.

Try it today. Open a note and list the last three changes to your role with their dates. That list is the start of the record.

Where it comes from on the manager's side. Coverage of quiet firing notes that managers have long used tactics like these to push out people they see as underperforming without paying severance.

Where It Comes From

Harvard Business Review published "Are You Being Quiet Fired?" in November 2022, and SHRM covered quiet firing as an employer's response to quiet quitting, the term for employees pulling back at work.

Good to Know

Gallup frames quiet firing as a management problem, a failure to coach and support, which is why asking directly for feedback and development is a fair first move. Quiet firing isn't a legal category in itself. If you believe the treatment is linked to discrimination or retaliation, talk to HR and consider getting advice from an employment lawyer before you resign.

Related Terms and Categories

• Toxic workplace

  A workplace where disrespect, hostility, unfairness or abuse are common enough to harm the people who work there; some of that conduct is also unlawful.

• Performance review

  A formal look back, usually once a year, where a manager rates how an employee's work measured up to the standards set for that period.

• Managing up

  Working deliberately with your boss to get the best results for both of you and the organization, by understanding how they work and what they need.

• One-on-one meeting

  A regular private meeting between a manager and one person who reports to them, used for check-ins, feedback, problems and career growth.

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