The quiet flight: why employees leave, without saying a word, through silent quitting

Let’s start with a fact that will take your breath away – one in five UK employees are quiet quitting, according to a study from Cognassist cited in HR News. This amounts to 19% of workers performing at the lowest level possible, while a staggering 74% believe that they lack any meaningful opportunity to apply their skills. It’s even worse among Gen Z workers, who are soon set to form the largest percentage of the workforce, as “65% say their cognitive strengths aren’t being used properly, and 28% are already quiet quitting as a result.”

In a tight labour market, with shifting expectations and mental health concerns at an all-time high, employee motivation is suffering, with a distinct lack of professional development opportunities and employers who don’t seem to care. If companies don’t act on this knowledge, they risk facing workers who are unproductive, demotivated, and inclined to leave for better opportunities elsewhere.

Also known as “quiet quitting,” this is relatively new terminology, more prevalent since the pandemic, where members of staff do the minimum amount of work required with no enthusiasm or extra effort put in. Workers perform the absolute basic duties set out in their job descriptions, so they are just doing enough not to be laid off or sacked.

This then dovetails with the concept of “quiet flight,” where employees totally disengage, and then leave their role without any fuss or signals that might give the employer time to persuade them to stay. This is opposed to “quiet firing,” a strategy adopted by employers where they create certain working conditions, such as isolating a particular employee or withholding a promotion or salary rise, so an underperforming worker will quit. It’s a rather sneaky tactic, used to avoid reputational and financial costs of formal terminations, encouraging staff turnover without a direct firing.

With only 10% of the UK workforce reporting feeling happy and engaged at work, now is the time for business leaders and HR departments to sit up and address loss of engagement, the impact of brand reputation, hidden turnover risks, the cost of underperforming employees, and eventual exits.

In this article, we explore what is behind silent quitting in the UK, business implications, and what can be done about it.

UK data tells us the scale of silent quitting is on the rise. Let’s look at the reasons why.

• Work disengagement – employees just aren’t feeling it when it comes to work. A 2025 workplace value survey from Vestd highlights the fact that 9 in 10 workers are switched off about work, showing that this stagnation is “costing the British economy an estimated £293.5 billion annually in lost productivity.”
• Those silent quitters who are still there – an estimate from McKinsey & Company reveals that between 20% and 40% of employees within an organisation are disengaging quietly, with the same insights showing that, over a three year period, 20% of workers across the UK wanted to leave their job but hadn’t done so.
• Lack of alternatives – nearly two thirds of workers (64%) feel stuck in a job they hate because they don’t see any other options, according to a study from July 2025, which indicates disengagement and silent quitting, even if they aren’t leaving.

So why is it that employees are so dissatisfied that they’ve turned to doing the bare minimum, with the impetus to leave without a backward glance?

1. High on the agenda is an increased workload, which can lead to stress and employee burnout. This is especially true for frontline workers, with Employer News citing a report revealing a 40% drop in engagement levels and enthusiasm, compared to the month before, indicating workload issues and exhaustion.
2. If there is a distinct lack of progression available within the workplace, this can lead workers to not being that bothered about delivering an exceptional performance day after day. The Cognissant report, previously mentioned, goes on to reveal that, “84% [of participants] said their employer didn’t provide enough professional development,” another root cause of silent quitting.
3. If staff feel under-used or are ordered to complete tasks that they don’t consider to be meaningful, this can lead to a spate of silent quitting. They feel undervalued and that their skills aren’t being put to good use.
4. Silent quitting is seen as a back-up when resigning is out of the question due to economic uncertainty and labour market upheaval. Recent news from November 2025 has shown that the unemployment rate has risen to 5%, so workers are understandably cautious about leaving a role without another one to go to.
5. Feeling a disconnect with the leadership team and managers can lead some staff members to go down the route of silent quitting. If team managers aren’t doing their job properly, and encouraging staff to perform to their full potential, then it’s not a huge surprise that employees sit back on their laurels as well.
6. With 75% of workers preferring a hybrid work pattern, it was surmised that around half of professionals might quit if they are forced to return to the office. This equates to a silent quitting culture preceding a formal offboarding practice if those expectations on flexibility aren’t met.

Having a workforce that indulges in silent quitting is not healthy for any level of a business… whether that’s for the employee themselves, business leaders, or the company as a whole.

Here’s why, and how it can all lead to the so-called “quiet flight” of an actual exit which is barely noticed until it happens.

The McKinsey report, already cited, shows that those who are quietly quitting, “take more sick days, put in less discretionary effort, are less focused on delivering outputs, and may make customers and co-workers unhappy.” This is backed up by a survey carried out by Instaprint, and relayed in the West Wales Chronicle, that found disengaged employees deliver 21% less output.

Those small signals, given out by silent quitters such as minimal effort and low engagement, might not get noticed until it’s too late and top talent leaves. This, in turn, can lead to the work culture suffering as this disengagement can be contagious, so the core of committed staff shrinks and performance levels drop.

Even before a silent quitter goes, the cost of underperformance is real and significant, along with the loss of knowledge and experience of that particular worker. If HR leaders only focus on formal staff turnover figures, they will miss the perceived turnover risk of those who are no longer engaged with their job.

What can be done about this section of the workforce, to re-engage with them and ensure that they feel motivated and keen to come to work every day?

Use employee surveys to find out what your workforce really feels. They can be anonymised so staff feel free to be really honest. Questions such as, “Do you feel your skills are utilised?”, “Do you believe your career is on an upward trajectory?”, and “Are you willing to go that extra mile?” can help to get a feel for what is really going on amongst staff.

It’s also wise to watch for any signs, including higher absence rates and reduced participation in meetings.

If workers are feeling that their skills aren’t being fully utilised, develop a clear progression framework that incorporates career mapping and mentoring, while tying roles to a business purpose so staff can easily see how their work contributes to moving the company forward.

This is where excellent training of managers comes in, so they can spot disengaged employees a mile off, and then sit them down for purposeful 1-2-1s to find out what would make them more committed. Stand up to any toxic behaviour, while fostering transparency, so you can inform staff about new opportunities where they can shine.

This might not always be viable, but recognising those job-changing expectations, such as hybrid and remote working, can pay dividends in the end, whilst ensuring that employees aren’t micro-managed and can take mental health days if needed.

Methodically tracking staff turnover, engagement, participation in the development of the business, internal promotions, and mobility rates will help, alongsidIInstaprintnstaprinte monitoring the cost of disengagement, including increased absence and lost productivity, as part of the metrics for the HR department.

Paying close attention to silent quitting and stopping it in its tracks can only be beneficial, as it will reduce a loss in productivity, combat a dip in the company’s reputational culture, and stem the flow of employees in quiet flight mode.

In this competitive UK market, organisations that move from a reactive exit management approach to a proactive engagement and career mobility management approach will be the ones who always come out on top.At Careerminds, we offer a dual service – outplacement and career framework systems, both of which can help organisations retain, rather than lose, talent. Contact us at the earliest opportunity to find out more about how we can help.