“Quiet Cracking” is one of the most widely discussed topics in the workplace this summer. In the last week alone, it has made headlines in Forbes, Business Insider, and Psychology Today, and been discussed on MSN and CBS.
Management professor Travis Grosser, of the School of Business, has studied organizational change and shares insight on “quiet cracking” with UConn Today. Below, he explains the causes of quiet cracking and offers recommendations for both business leaders and employees to prevent or mitigate its impact.
What is “quiet cracking”?
Think of it as a slow fracture in an employee’s psychological foundation at work. It refers to employees who are quietly becoming disengaged from their work yet remain in their jobs, often due to limited employment alternatives. It results in a persistent feeling of workplace unhappiness that leads to disengagement, poor performance, and an increased desire to quit.
Unlike the dramatic exits associated with resignations or the intentional withdrawal of quiet quitting, quiet cracking manifests as a more gradual decline in motivation, commitment, and productivity.
What are the signs that an employee is quietly cracking?
The warning signs are often subtle and difficult to detect. Employees may fulfill their basic duties but lack the enthusiasm or initiative they once had, and may appear withdrawn and emotionally detached.
Key indicators include:
- Persistent workplace unhappiness
- Feeling undervalued by their boss and/or organization
- Loss of confidence in their future with the organization
- Emotional detachment despite meeting basic job requirements
- A sense of being “stuck” without a promising career path
How is this different from “quiet quitting”?
This distinction is crucial for organizational leaders to understand. While quiet quitting refers to workers who purposely slack off at a job they no longer want, quiet cracking refers to those who gradually disengage because they feel unappreciated and don’t perceive a promising career path.
The key differences:
- Intent: Quiet quitting is deliberate boundary-setting; quiet cracking is involuntary erosion
- Performance: Quiet quitters consciously limit their effort, while those experiencing quiet cracking may want to perform but find themselves increasingly unable to do so.
- Root cause: Quiet quitting often stems from work-life balance priorities; quiet cracking is situated somewhere between burnout, suffered by some ambitious but overloaded workers, and the quiet quitters who are actively slacking their way out of jobs they no longer want.
Is this a new phenomenon, or something the media is exploiting?
While the terminology is new, the underlying dynamics are not entirely new. The phenomenon builds on established organizational behavior research around burnout and disengagement, which are phenomena with a long organizational history. The recent coining of the term, and increased discussion of the phenomenon, likely reflects current societal and job market dynamics.
Have other generations had to address widespread job stagnation? Or is this a phenomenon that’s unique to 2025?
This isn’t unique to 2025, though current manifestations have distinct characteristics. Each generation has faced workplace satisfaction challenges, from industrial revolution working conditions to post-war corporate conformity. What’s distinctive now is the convergence of pandemic after-effects, technological disruption, economic insecurity, and shifting generational values creating a perfect storm for this particular form of disengagement. Indeed, recent surveys point to a growing generational divide in experiences of stress and poor mental health in the workplace (e.g., Burnout Report 2025 reveals generational divide in levels of stress and work absence – Mental Health UK).
What would you recommend a company or a manager do to prevent or minimize quiet cracking?
Here are four recommendations I would make to managers:
Facilitate learning and development: Employees who receive training are more likely to feel efficacious and engaged in their work. Organizations should provide structured, ongoing learning opportunities that employees have a say in shaping.
Praise in public and communicate: Publicly recognizing employee work and achievements is a low-cost, high-impact method for boosting workplace morale. Managers should conduct regular one-on-one meetings to understand concerns before they escalate.
Implement succession plans: Succession plans can help employees understand their future career opportunities and chart their path.
Take their pulse: Administering regular pulse surveys is an efficient way to identify employee disengagement trends and take early action.
And for employees, what is their best recourse if they see signs of disengagement in themselves?
Employees experiencing quiet cracking should take proactive steps rather than letting the erosion continue. That includes:
Seek dialogue: Request those one-on-one conversations with managers to express concerns about growth opportunities and workload. Managers often aren’t aware of the issue until its too late.
Pursue learning opportunities: Under skilled employees are more likely to feel insecure and overwhelmed by their jobs, so actively seek professional development opportunities, whether offered by your organization or pursued independently. Upskilling should be an ongoing process.
Clarify expectations and goals: Address ambiguity directly. Many experiencing quiet cracking report unclear paths forward, so initiating conversations about career progression and role clarity can help.
Consider your values alignment: Reflect on whether the disconnection stems from a mismatch between personal and organizational values. Sometimes quiet cracking is the result of a poorly aligned person-organization fit. In these cases, a change may be appropriate.
Professor Grosser is the interim department head for the Boucher Management and Entrepreneurship Department at the School of Business and the former Academic Director for the graduate program in Human Resource Management. His research interests include social networks in the workplace, employee innovation and creativity, knowledge sharing and collaboration and organizational change.
