Quiet cracking: The workplace trend employers can't ignore

Quiet cracking vs. quiet quitting

Quiet quitting describes a deliberate attempt to pull back from work, avoid going above and beyond and silently complete the bare minimum. Quiet cracking is more subtle -- but can be just as harmful.

Quiet cracking describes a slow but consistent decline in employee satisfaction, leading to disengagement. Like a crack in a glass, quiet cracking happens beneath the surface, slowly weakening the relationship between an employee and their work, until an employee reaches the breaking point. Quiet quitting is about setting strict, clear boundaries, while quiet cracking describes an internal unravelling. Key features of both include the following:

Quiet quitting:

• Bare minimum approach to work.
• Often motivated by a desire for work-life balance.
• Emotionally detached from the workplace.
• Baseline productivity maintained.
• Intentional.

Quiet cracking:

• Emotional detachment that builds up over time.
• Increased absenteeism and burnout.
• Decline in creativity and motivation.
• Loss in productivity and capacity.
• Unintentional.

Quiet cracking represents a form of disengagement that may be deeply rooted in an organization, but unlike quiet quitting and the Great Resignation, it goes unnoticed.

Why is quiet cracking happening now?

According to a Gallup survey, disengagement among U.S. employees is at an all-time high. In 2024, employee engagement fell to its lowest level in over a decade, with only 31% of employees feeling engaged. Engagement in the workforce is important. It may lead to stronger creativity and innovation. When employees disengage and switch off, innovation dwells, and productivity declines.

In 2025, unhappiness and disengagement have become a workplace epidemic, and the results can lead to extreme burnout and mass turnover for employers. Factors leading to declining employee engagement include the following:

• Fluctuating job market. With layoffs happening across the tech workforce, employees are more likely to remain in jobs that they don't enjoy. This can lead to a disconnect between employees and their companies.
• Lack of work-life balance. The always-on culture, where employees find themselves logging into work early in the morning or responding to emails late at night, has led to the infinite workday. This term describes the feeling of work being never-ending, with blurred boundaries between work-life and home-life.
• Increased RTO mandates. As some companies move to a return to the office mandate, not all employees are on board, which can lead to employee dissatisfaction.

"79% of employees experienced burnout in the last year and more than half say it has lowered their overall engagement and performance," said Amy Mosher, chief people officer at isolved -- a human capital management software provider -- referencing the company's 2024/25' Voice of the Workforce' survey. "Quiet cracking is about more than just silently eroding the company culture. If it's not addressed, it's going to have a tangible impact on your business."

The hidden cost to the business

Though quiet cracking is a silent trend, its affect does not go unnoticed. "The impact is not just on morale; it's a direct drag on performance and profitability, costing Fortune 1000 companies an estimated $240-330 million annually,” said Dr. Shonna Waters, organizational psychologist and CEO at Fractional Insights.

• Inefficiency and poor productivity. Employees who feel disconnected and disengaged from work will continue to show up, but the value and quality of their work declines. Inefficiency, loss in productivity and poor quality of work can cost the business financially and reputationally. According to Gallup, disengaged employees cost the world $8.8 trillion in lost productivity. While quiet cracking is a silent problem, financially, the effect is loud and clear.
• Loss of creativity and innovation. With employees feeling drained at work and unable to work to their full potential, businesses will lose out on innovation, directly harming their competitive advantage. "Disengaged employees create innovation and skill gaps across your business, so you'll have less organizational agility across the business," said Mosher.
• Employee turnover. According to the employee engagement platform Applauz, the cost of replacing a salaried employee can range from "half to four times the employee's annual salary." Where quiet cracking can ultimately lead to a desire to leave the organization, it is important for businesses to address the trend before it creates irreversible damage and high turnover rates. Citing the business risk of work-related angst survey, Dr. Waters said insecure employees may cling to their jobs out of fear, which can lead to 35% lower turnover rates.

"Disengaged employees lead to leadership burnout," said Mosher. She went on to add that when employees feel emotionally removed from their work, inevitably, managers and leaders are left to pick up the slack, which can lead to burnout higher up within the organization. This cyclic pattern of quiet cracking demonstrates why it is important to double down at the root of the problem, to eliminate disengagement before it infects the entire business ecosystem.

Strategies to eliminate quiet cracking

According to the TalentLMS report, insecurity is one of the highest contributing factors to the quiet cracking trend, which can be caused by economic uncertainty, unclear expectations and managerial disconnect. Addressing these factors is key to eliminating quiet cracking before it takes hold of the business, harming talent acquisition, damaging culture and increasing turnover rates. Strategies to address quiet cracking include:

Address managerial disconnect

For most employees, managers are their first line of support, and if there is a strong disconnect, employees are left to fend for themselves when things go wrong. The TalentLMS survey found that out of all employees experiencing quiet cracking, 47% felt that their managers did not listen to them. By strengthening the relationship between managers and their team members, businesses provide their employees with stronger support systems.

"One of the biggest unseen risks to any organization is the lack of training for first-level managers," said Mosher. "They're the most important defense an organization has against everything from change management to engagement."

Be transparent

If burnout is driven by insecurity, a lack of clarity will only make it worse for employees. "When organizations are transparent about decisions and their impact, employees are 4.5 times less likely to experience angst. Silence and ambiguity breed fear; clarity builds security," said Dr. Waters, citing the Fracitional Insights survey. By ensuring that employees are aware of key decision-making, businesses can reduce confusion and increase confidence amongst the workforce.

Direct resources toward balancing workloads

When workloads become unmanageable or confusing, employees experience burnout and unnecessary stress. The best way that businesses can demonstrate care and commitment to employee experience is by addressing work-life balance. This can be done by communicating role expectations, setting achievable deadlines and hiring more staff.

Invest in upskilling and training

According to the TalentLMS report, employees with no training are 140% more likely to feel insecure. Training can help employees feel more capable and secure, which can reduce quiet cracking.

Recognition initiatives

"Recognition is one tried-and-true method to combat quiet cracking. It is contagious and it taps into fundamental human psychology, especially when employees are praised in public,” said Luke Kreitner, general manager at Rewardian, an employee recognition and rewards platform. "Recognition has to be inclusive, consistent and aligned to your organization's values. Otherwise, it risks feeling performative."

Understand the well-being deficit of the organization

"The quiet cracking solution isn't another superficial engagement initiative. Leaders must fundamentally redesign work to be compatible with human psychology," said Dr. Waters. Diagnosis is the first step to centering wellbeing and wellness within the organization.

"Don't just throw mental health at the wall. It is important to think about the needs of your business," said Mosher. Once these needs have been accurately diagnosed, meaningful wellness initiatives can be put in place to support employees in the way they need to be supported.

"There will always be employees who are not optimally engaged," said Mosher. "How much time you put into addressing it will indicate whether it becomes an epidemic of thoughts, or whether it will be something that you address and move forward from."

Rosa Heaton is the content manager for the Learning Content group at Informa TechTarget.