Alora Bopray
\n\u00a0|\u00a0 Special to USA TODAY<\/p>\n
You might not be fired outright \u2014 but your employer could be quietly pushing you out. Quiet firing isn\u2019t a myth; it\u2019s a real and common phenomenon. A 2025 HRTech survey<\/a> of more than 1,000 U.S. managers revealed that 53% of employers admit to using quiet firing tactics, and nearly half of 20,000 people surveyed on LinkedIn<\/a> in 2022 had seen it in action or experienced it themselves.<\/p>\n Quiet firing is when an employer deliberately makes a job so unrewarding, isolating or stagnant that the employee feels pressured to quit, rather than being formally terminated.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cQuiet firing is not new; it\u2019s just getting more attention,\u201d explains Edwin Aiwazian, the managing attorney at Lawyers for Justice<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n We spoke with six HR and career experts to break down the five most common signs of quiet firing and how to protect your career if it\u2019s happening to you.<\/p>\n 5 clear signs of quiet firing<\/p>\n Quiet firing might start as being excluded from meetings you were once a key member of, cutting responsibilities or stalling promotions with no explanation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou will have responsibilities pulled back, the support that may have been there disappears, your career growth will stall, and the hope is that you will eventually quit,\u201d says Jason Walker, Psy.D., Ph.D., the program director and an associate professor of Industrial-Organizational and Applied Psychology at Adler University<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Exclusion from meetings<\/p>\n Suddenly uninvited from meetings you were once a key member of? This is one of the most common signs of quiet firing, and one many of our experts report as a serious red flag<\/a> that you are being passively let go.\u00a0<\/p>\n This may be as obvious as being excluded from meetings, but you may also notice projects being carried out without you or abandoned communication threads that were previously active daily.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s avoidance masked as management,\u201d Walker explains.<\/p>\n Shifting responsibilities<\/p>\n If your workload suddenly changes \u2014 whether you\u2019re overloaded with unrealistic goals or sidelined with meaningless projects \u2014 it could be a sign of quiet firing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSimilar to bullying behaviors, you may be assigned unreasonable workloads or left with unclear expectations that feel like a setup,\u201d says Walker. \u201cWhile this is a more aggressive form of quiet firing, it does happen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Wende Smith, head of people operations at BambooHR<\/a>, agrees: \u201cShifting responsibilities isn\u2019t always a sign of quiet firing, but how your manager goes about it can be telling.\u201d She says if you ask for the reason behind the shift and get vague or no answers, that\u2019s a red flag.<\/p>\n Support diminishes\u00a0<\/p>\n A quieter tactic is pulling back on support. This diminished support may leave you feeling abandoned or alone, making it more challenging to complete your projects.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can feel like whiplash for the employee who is suddenly left with the weight of an unreasonable workload and feeling like they just can\u2019t hack it in their role,\u201d says Smith. When that environment becomes unbearable, the employee leaves.<\/p>\n Development stops<\/p>\n Did your one-on-ones once discuss your future at the company, but are now quick and pointless? A pause or change in your career development is a clear sign of quiet firing. You may receive vague responses or no response at all when inquiring about career growth or promotion timelines.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201dYour career growth comes to a standstill, and you are passed over for promotions<\/a> and raises<\/a> for no apparent reason,\u201d says Walker. Sometimes, this can drag on for years.<\/p>\n Policy-driven quiet firing<\/p>\n Return to office (RTO) has been used as a form of quiet firing. As employees are expected to return to the office, many decide to leave the company instead. While many believe this was an unexpected result, it may have been more targeted than not.<\/p>\n When looking into quiet firing, \u201ca troubling trend that our research uncovered is using RTO as a quiet-firing tactic.\u201d The data that Smith\u2019s team at BambooHR<\/a> uncovered showed that 37% of managers, directors and executives believe that layoffs occurred because fewer employees than expected quit during the RTO process, and 25% of VP and C-suite executives and 18% of HR professionals hoped for voluntary turnover during RTO.<\/p>\n \u201cThe danger here, like any other quiet firing trend, is that it can have a bad ripple effect, damaging morale and culture, which is key to retaining your top talent,\u201d says Smith. Further research showed that nearly 45% of employees who have been through an RTO report losing valuable colleagues.\u00a0<\/p>\n Why quiet firing happens<\/p>\n Quiet firing often stems from a desire to avoid costs and risks. \u201cIt\u2019s either small in an attempt to weed out low performers or larger to avoid layoffs,\u201d says Wende Smith. \u201cIt\u2019s gained more prominence lately due to the rise in quiet quitting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Avoiding formal termination also helps companies sidestep severance packages and legal risk. \u201cBecause employers operate under increased legal and reputational scrutiny, they take the easy way and push employees out,\u201d adds Arianny Mercedes, the founder of a career and workplace strategy firm Revamped<\/a>.<\/p>\n Remote and hybrid work have also made quiet firing easier to execute. Joe Galvin, the chief research officer at CEO peer network Vistage Worldwide, Inc.<\/a>, says, \u201cManagers can now avoid direct interaction with employees, making disengagement and subtle exclusion simpler to execute.\u201d Without daily in-person contact, it\u2019s easier for employees to fade into the background.<\/p>\n Not all quiet firing is malicious. Some managers simply lack the training or resources to have honest performance conversations. Mercedes notes that many leaders \u201cfeel uncomfortable initiating honest conversations\u201d and are unsure of the best way to address performance or strategic fit \u2014 so they default to letting employees drift out.<\/p>\n I\u2019m being quiet fired, what can I do?<\/p>\n Quiet firing doesn\u2019t always mean your job is over, but it\u2019s a clear sign to reassess your situation. \u201cEmployees need to advocate for themselves,\u201d says attorney Aiwazian. \u201cYou are always within your right to ask questions and open that channel of communication with your leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n Start by voicing your concerns directly. Ask for clear expectations, define your goals with your manager, and align on what success looks like. \u201cIt\u2019s only over if you choose to stay silent,\u201d adds Brandon Dawson, the chairman and co-founder of 10X Health System<\/a>. \u201cIf you\u2019re sensing signs of quiet firing, don\u2019t retreat. Lean in.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, protect yourself. Quiet firing isn\u2019t always illegal, but it can be \u2014 especially if tied to discrimination or retaliation. Keep detailed records: save emails, track changes to your role, and request feedback in writing. Store all documentation on your personal computer so you have access if you need to take further action.<\/p>\n Final thoughts: Quiet firing is not a result of your performance<\/p>\n \u201cQuiet firing speaks more to a failure of leadership and toxic workplace culture \u2014 not performance,\u201d says Walker.\u00a0<\/p>\n Quiet firing is a well-known phenomenon, but according to Walker, not one that is well studied. With more stories and shared experiences, hopefully, more researchers will begin to study this trend and find a worthy solution. Until then, our experts advise that the best defense is to identify the signs early and take action before your options become limited.<\/p>\n What is USA TODAY Top Workplaces 2025?<\/p>\n Do you work for a great company? Each year,\u00a0USA TODAY Top Workplaces<\/a>, a collaboration between\u00a0Energage<\/a>\u00a0and USA TODAY, ranks organizations across the U.S. that excel at creating a positive work environment for their employees. Employee feedback determines the winners.<\/p>\n