Have you ever felt a sudden shift in attitude at your office? The kind of shift where you feel as though all the progress you’re making during work has ground to a sudden and screeching halt. You may also feel as if you’re constantly looking over your shoulder, as if suddenly the entire workplace is against you.
What you might be experiencing is the process of quiet firing. This is a process during which an employee is forced to leave their job because their employer is making work insufferable. The goal of this article is to help you understand what quiet firing is and how you can spot the telltale signs of it in action.
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What is Quiet Firing?
To understand quiet firing, we first need to understand the process of quiet quitting. In a nutshell, quiet quitting is essentially a form of protest from employees to their employer that involves the former doing the bare minimum during their work. It’s a running trend amongst Gen Z employees because they don’t feel valued at their place of work. You’d think this is a valid thing for employers to worry about. Yet that’s not the case.
If an employee is quietly quitting, then most employers will feel as if the employee in question isn’t doing enough for their job. What was the point of hiring them if they’re just going to sit there doing nothing all day? Would it not be better to replace said employee with someone? Yet it’s not that simple.
Most employers cannot simply fire their employees as if they were swatting a pesky fly. This is because we rightfully live in the age of proper labor laws that protect employees. These laws are known as “unlawful termination” acts; they’re a guardrail for employees to keep them safe from sleazy management practices.
Employers can suffer a heavy punishment for practicing unlawful termination, such as a fine or lawsuit. And even if there were no unlawful termination acts, unfairly terminating employee contracts is just a very bad look for your company.
And even then, as the employer, you have to pay a termination fee to your employee after firing them. In a nutshell, firing someone is easier said than done.
How Employers Quiet Fire
This all begs the question: As the employer, how can you open up a vacancy in the place of an employee you want to replace? The solution is the exact topic of this article. You quiet fire them. Quiet firing isn’t outright firing an employee. It’s much worse.
Quiet firing is when you make an employee’s life at work miserable. You treat them so badly that not even quiet quitting will help them get by. The goal is to drive an employee so up the wall that they decide they’ve had enough. This forces them to pack their bags and leave. This way, there’s no severance pay; the employee left of their own choice, not yours.
Purgatory
If work is hell, then quiet firing is purgatory. And while it may sound like a pretty novel concept, it’s not something new. The land of the rising sun, Japan, has been a practitioner of quiet firing for quite a while.
In Japan, most companies are barred from laying off or firing employees without a valid reason. Japan has started to utilize a very devious tactic called Oidashibeya, known in English as “The Banishment Room.”
The banishment room is where employees are placed when the employer has no use for them anymore. It’s a windowless area isolated from the rest of the company where the employee simply sits and does nothing. It’s an evil practice that has infected Japanese society. It’s a means to force employees out of the company without firing them.
However, the thing about the banishment room is that it’s not trying to be subtle. It’s a very obvious ploy by companies to unfairly punish employees for whatever reason. Although there’s no way to fight against it, at least it’s something that can be identified by employees.
So if they’re sent to the banishment room, they know instantly that their time has come. But quiet firing in other parts of the world isn’t as obvious. It can be a bit difficult to spot. Luckily for you, though, that’s exactly what we’re here for.
Telltale Signs of Quiet Firing
If we listed every little sign of an employer quietly firing you, we’d be here all day. And your boss not liking you isn’t a telltale sign that they want to fire you. We’re going to list down the five distinct signs that definitively prove that management is firing you silently.
Harsh Critics
One thing you’ll start to notice is that the scrutiny of your performance is beginning to increase. It’ll start with small complaints at first. But as time goes on, those complaints will only increase in number and volume. And they’ll get much harsher too. You’ll also notice that there won’t be any praise to offset the amount of criticism you’re receiving. Everything you do will be nitpicked.
This is a manipulative tactic to undermine your self-worth. Your management wants you to feel less than adequate for the job. You won’t feel like you’re bringing anything meaningful to the table and therefore won’t be able to perform as well. Eventually, you’ll leave thinking that you didn’t accomplish anything at your place of work.
Being Left Out
Another thing you’ll start noticing is the lack of meetings and collaborative discussions you’ll be having. This exclusion from business meetings and events won’t be something gradual. It’ll be very sudden.
Of course, it’s going to come as a shock at first, but you’ll come to understand it’s to make your work harder. When you’re not part of any meeting or discussion, you won’t be getting any feedback, and therefore, you’re going to perform worse overall.
Out of the Loop
When it comes to tasks, management won’t give you the right information. You’re going to find yourself constantly looking for guidance, but there’s never going to be any. Critical information that you need to do your job will be unavailable. This essentially means no more emails or updates will be made by the company. If you begin feeling like you’re being left behind, then it probably means that your company is slowly trying to shake you off.
No Raise, No Service, More Work
One of the perks of having a full-time job is the expectation that your work will reward you in the long run. This is through incentives, increments, and promotions. Career growth is necessary to increase your standard of living. However, there are times when your employer would rather not pay you more than they already do.
To not do that anymore, they’ll probably resort to quietly firing you so that you throw in the towel. This way of thinking also manifests in quietly skipping your promotion in favor of another employee, especially at times when it’s not warranted.
The worst part about this, though, is that despite not being paid more, you’ll be made to work more. This results in a desperate struggle between management and employees, where one is being overloaded and the other isn’t compensating the latter for it.
Workplace Isolation
The last thing you’ll notice your employer doing is that they’ll try and isolate you within the workplace. This is different from the previous signs, as it manifests itself in the form of your co-workers and company culture isolating you.
First, it will manifest itself as co-workers talking to you less and less. Eventually, it will get to a point where no one talks to you at all. Your employer may even throw the curveball of isolating your space from everyone else just to make things even more difficult.
With the signs being pointed out, we’d like to stress a couple of extra points before moving on. The first of which is the fact that these signs can manifest in small ways to the point that you don’t even notice them.
The second point is that these signs will also manifest in instances where your employer doesn’t seem to be quiet firing you. Therefore, you can often be confused as to whether or not you’re out of a job. Our best advice is that if you feel miserable at your job, try your best to find a new workplace.
The Consequences of Quiet Firing
Despite being something employers do to push workers out of the company, quiet firing isn’t just an employee problem. It’s an issue that employers themselves should start thinking about because it only creates more issues in the long run. Here are reasons why employers should think twice before quiet firing their employees.
Lack of Morale and Collaboration
Working at a company is a collaborative effort. When one employee is isolated from the pack, then others will notice. This creates a sort of hostile environment where everyone feels like they’ll lose their job next. Now, no one wants to collaborate out of fear. They also don’t want to trust leadership. It doesn’t have to be elaborated upon as to why such a thing would be bad for business.
Turnover
Forcing one employee to quit tends to have a knock-on effect. Now, everyone is coming to work with the mindset that leadership is out to get them. Rather than keep thinking about whether or not they’ll be next, employees will simply choose to leave on their terms. Nobody wants to work in an unstable workplace.
Bad for the Brand
Last but not least, you’ll find that your overall brand is damaged if you quietly fire your employees. Employees are bound to spread word far and wide that the company they used to work for is not to be trusted.
Job seekers are more likely to trust former employees than the company itself and may go elsewhere. Your company’s image will be ruined, and work will come to a halt, all because of shady practices.
How to Stop Quiet-Firing
The best way for the trend of quiet firing to stop is for employers to put an end to the trend once and for all. Fortunately, it’s a problem that can be solved quite easily. The solution is to be more proactive with your employees.
If the company is not satisfied with its employees’ work, it should seek to have an open dialogue rather than halting it altogether. The company should also take into account its employees’ feelings and proclivities. This is all so that life at work is kept balanced and fair for all.
Sole responsibility does not just fall on the employer, though. Employees should also do their best to show their employers that they’re not going to have anything to do with quiet firing. Don’t be afraid to draw the line in the sand with your employer. Document your experiences and show that you’re unashamed to fight for better standards at the workplace.
FAQs
- I feel like my workplace has suddenly gotten hostile toward me. Am I being quietly fired?
It’s hard to tell. We’d recommend discussing your issues before taking action. If they persist, then yes, you’re probably being quiet-fired.
- If I feel like I’m being quietly fired, should I just quit?
Yes, you should. Do not let yourself be walked over by an employer looking to replace you.
- I can’t afford to find another job. How can I avoid having my employer quietly fire me?
Try your best to be a good employee. If you show your manager that you’re doing all of the tasks being assigned to you on time and with effort, they’ll probably keep you around.
- Should I talk to my co-worker who is being quietly fired?
If your workplace allows it, then you definitely should. An employee could be quietly fired at any point in time. When they are, it’s important to give them the time of day so that they don’t feel alone in their struggle.
- Why won’t my boss just talk to me if they’re having an issue?
Everybody has their reasons for not springing something on another person. Sometimes people bottle up their frustrations. If your boss isn’t talking to you about an issue, try to give them the necessary feedback on how you feel and that they should feel able to discuss any problems with you.
