I’ll fire you, but not too much

Do the bare minimum of what the employer expects. They dubbed it “quiet quitting,” it went viral on social media. Now the network has coined a new expression for an equally passive-aggressive phenomenon that is generating many reactions: quiet firing, or also silent dismissal(Bbc). The first to use the term was DeAndre Brown, an influencer who coined the expression on TikTok to refer to the employer who does not reward the employee for his contributions to the company, thus forcing him to resign(Vanity Fair).

General dissatisfaction

On social media, the hashtag #quietfiring has recorded more than 11 million views. The Times also covered this, citing a recently published report by the Pew Research Center that identified low pay and few opportunities for professional growth as the main reasons behind the Large resignations. In our country, however, we are certainly no better off. This is certified by an InfoJobs Attraction & Retention survey, which shows a general discontent among workers: more than 80 percent of survey participants would not recommend the company they work for to a friend because of an uninspiring environment or an unsatisfactory salary.

What to do

This phenomenon, forcing the employee-with more or less tacit suggestions-to resign, is not an entirely new thing. In fact, it is a practice associated with bullying, that is, persecutory acts that are exerted on the worker with the aim of marginalizing him or her(Rolling Stones). The reasons behind these attitudes are complex. If workers behave in a way that violates their contracts, for example, companies can terminate their employment. But if it is the bosses who do not like the workers, or who regard them as mediocre and expendable subjects, acting to remove them is more complicated, since this would often require lengthy processes.