What a difference a few months make!
Starting in early 2021 and spurred by the emergence and rapid spread of COVID-19, piled on top of long-standing grievances, the Great Resignation peaked in mid-2022.
While resignations have tapered off in 2023, workers’ leverage in the employment relationship didn’t immediately follow suit. The second half of 2022 and early months of 2023 were full of stories about growing trends like “quiet quitting,” or employees’ doing just enough work to not get fired, and “bare minimum Mondays,” when employees do the least amount of work to start off their workweek.
Layoffs on the Rise
Labor headlines in recent weeks, however, have been focused on major layoffs among important employers across the country. While the biggest layoffs started in the tech sector, recent layoffs have expanded to sectors like retail, manufacturing, and others.
These layoffs don’t necessarily reflect a complete 180-degree shift in the labor market, but they’re a clear sign the brief days of seemingly endless worker leverage are over. This begs the question: What’s happening to all those quiet quitting and bare minimum Monday advocates and practitioners in this new reality?
We reached out to employers and industry experts to get a better sense of the situation.
Commonsense Position
Common sense would suggest that quiet quitters and bare minimum Monday’ers didn’t fare well in recent layoffs simply because, all else being equal, employers would rather retain hardworking employees who show initiative and go the extra mile than those who literally do the bare minimum.
“When analyzing the impact of workplace behaviors on layoff decisions, it is important to consider several key factors,” suggests Abhishek Shah, founder of Testlify, a talent assessment platform. Shah offers a practical framework to help think about how quiet quitters may have fared in recent layoffs:
- Value contribution. Organizations naturally want to retain employees who consistently demonstrate their value and make significant contributions to the company’s success. “Quiet Quitting and Bare Minimum Mondays may signal disengagement and a lack of dedication, potentially placing those individuals at higher risk during downsizing initiatives,” Shah says.
- Team dynamics. As Shah notes, collaboration and teamwork are essential for achieving organizational goals. Employees who engage in quiet quitting or exhibit a “bare minimum” mindset can disrupt team dynamics, negatively impacting overall productivity and morale. “In layoffs, organizations often consider retaining individuals who foster positive working relationships and contribute to a cohesive team environment,” Shah says.
- Adaptability and growth mindset. Rapid changes in the business landscape require employees to be adaptable and possess a growth mindset. Those who demonstrate a willingness to learn new skills, embrace change, and actively contribute to their personal and professional development are often perceived as valuable assets. “Layoff decisions may favor individuals who exhibit these traits over those engaging in behaviors that suggest complacency or resistance to change,” Shah adds.
- Performance and results. Ultimately, performance and results remain critical factors in layoff decisions, Shah points out. Employees who consistently exceed expectations, meet or surpass targets, and demonstrate a strong work ethic are typically considered indispensable during times of downsizing. Conversely, individuals engaging in behaviors that imply subpar performance or a lack of commitment may find themselves more vulnerable to layoffs.
Systemic Issues
Other observers agree that quiet quitters may be in a tough spot when it comes to layoffs but argue that the slacking employees are often a symptom of a larger, more systemic problem, which involves company culture and managers, as well.
“As a CEO and a job leader, I believe that such trends like Quiet Quitting and Bare Minimum Mondays are symptoms of deeply rooted problems,” says Victor Anaya, CEO and cofounder of Serviap Global, which provides employer-of-record (EOR) and recruitment services around the world.
“These are reactions to poor management, particularly bosses that do not listen to their employees,” Anaya asserts. “There are key structural changes needed in the workplace, from the hiring process to habits of employee retention, so that everybody can feel connected to the core business. I think that workers should be validated and feel heard, so that they don’t need to resort to passive-aggressive approaches to conceive actual change. Along with that, better-organized companies can also lay out their employee’s career plans more easily, creating a more engaging and promising place.”
To the extent employers find merit in Anaya’s sentiment, they’re advised to think more critically about whom to retain and whom to let go during layoffs. Just because someone has been underperforming doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a lost cause. It could mean there’s a broader engagement problem.
Behaviors vs. Performance
Other observers note quiet quitting and bare minimum Mondays are behaviors employees exhibit that don’t necessarily translate to poor performance, which should be a more relevant factor in employee retention decisions.
Some workers can simply perform at a high level relative to their colleagues even when putting in less hours or being more laid back. After all, the stereotype of the successful sales rep who spends more time on the golf course than at their desk is certainly older than the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Quiet quitting and Bare minimum Mondays are behaviors,” explains Paul Wolfe, a human-first leadership advocate, a former HR executive, and author of the book Human Beings First. “If these behaviors directly impacted an employee’s overall performance then there might have been a disproportionate impact during a reduction in force (RIF) situation,” Wolfe says. “When companies decide they need to conduct a RIF to save money, the safest way to decide which roles are impacted and ultimately which employees are impacted is an objective measure.” For instance:
- Hire data—most recent hires get terminated.
- Performance review scores—those with low performance scores.
It’s riskier, Wolfe suggests, to use more subjective criteria like quiet quitting to make these decisions.
Still, translating behaviors like quiet quitting to performance outcomes can certainly provide employers with an idea of whom to consider in layoff decisions.
Quiet quitting and bare minimum Mondays were risky propositions from the outset. It’s rarely a great idea to do the bare minimum at work, as it’s likely to exclude you from promotion considerations and other advancement opportunities. Even workers who are happy where they are should become concerned when major corporate layoffs suggest yesterday’s bare minimum might not cut it in the tougher labor market of today.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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