If you’ve spent any time on the internet lately, you will likely have seen the term “quiet quitting” making headlines. Touted as the answer to everything from workplace burnout to outdated ‘Girl Boss’ culture, it encourages employees to simply do their jobs as described. No late nights. No being sucked into endless emails. No going the extra mile. Sound good? Well, what if ‘quiet quitting’ is actually, unsettlingly, leading to ‘quiet firing’ in some instances?

Social media influencer DeAndre Brown coined the term in a viral TikTok video earlier this year. He describes “quiet firing” as when a workplace fails to recognise and reward an employee for their contributions, subtly pushing them into leaving their jobs and so avoiding the paperwork involved in actually firing them.

According to Victoria McLean, CEO & founder of award-winning career consultancy City CV, quiet firing is “when your employer intentionally does the minimum they can for you (and there is intent involved here). Quiet firing can take various forms, such as denying pay rises, over or underworking you, cancelling 1:1s and not putting you forward for expected promotions or promoting other people over you.”