'Quiet quitting' could be hitting the economy - here's why
Britons have become less engaged with the jobs they do and are less willing to put in extra effort, a report has found.
'Quiet quitting' could be hitting the economy - here's why
The so-called "quiet quitting" trend, in which workers do the minimum required in a job but decline to do anything extra, may be affecting the economy, analysis has found.
Over the past decade, Britons have become less engaged in the jobs they do and less willing to make extra effort, according to a Resolution Foundation report.
The thinktank said this may partly explain the slump in productivity since the pandemic.
"This is self-evidently bad for workers, but it also doesn't bode well for productivity and labour supply, both of which are vital for lifting living standards in the years ahead," said Hannah Slaughter, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation.
Quiet quitting was popularised on social media shortly after the pandemic.
Frustrated by high demands, low pay, and a squeeze in living standards, many online posts argued that workers should do only what their bosses asked and nothing more.
So you still turn up for work, but stop helping with extra tasks or checking emails outside working hours, instead concentrating on work-life balance and "acting your wage".
Yet, rather than being just a TikTok talking point, the Resolution Foundation said the findings in its report were "consistent" with the idea of quiet quitting.
'I was working 60 hours a week so I quiet quit'
The share of those surveyed who were willing to go the extra mile to help their employer has fallen from 69% in 2015 to 55% in 2025, according to the foundation's survey of 4,656 adults.
Meanwhile, the proportion who were not even "fairly" satisfied with their roles has dropped to one-in-four, the lowest level on record.
In addition, workers are less likely than 10 years ago to say they have an interesting job, with 63% of those surveyed saying so, down from 74%.
"Workers today are indeed a little less committed to their employers, and a little less intrinsically drawn to work in general, than workers were a decade ago," the report added.
The Resolution Foundation found that this change over the last decade "may have contributed to weak productivity growth", which has slowed since the financial crisis and weakened again after the pandemic.
Workers were also more focused on pay than in the past, which it said was "perhaps unsurprising... given the flatlining living standards of the past decade".
Sir John Curtice, politics professor and co-editor of the report, said the analysis does not mean that young people have "become more 'work-shy', nor have workers in general become more reluctant to change jobs".
"But if workers are to be fully engaged in their work, it has seemingly become more important for employers to provide jobs that are both financially rewarding and have flexible work hours," he added.