“Quiet quitting” has met its match with what some are calling “quiet firing,” a phenomenon that further illustrates the social politics that sometimes comes with traversing the workplace.
For TikToker @askthatrecruiter, who is a current tech recruiter and who used to work in human resources, it’s imperative employees notice the signs of quiet firing before it’s too late, and they’re left leaving a job without reaping any benefits.
In one of their more popular videos, @askthatrecruiter shares tips on how employees can survive “quiet firing.” Entrepreneur magazine defines quiet firing as “when employers intentionally treat you badly so that you will leave your job.”
“One thing that’s always worked for me is to be proactive and to overthink because at least then you’re prepared,” @askthatrecruiter says about getting ahead of quiet firing before it gets too late.
@askthatrecruiter notes to viewers that it’s important to keep in mind that most employers in the United States are “at-will,” which means that an employer can terminate someone’s employment at any time and for any legal reason—or no reason at all—without being held legally liable.
“But most companies are still [going to] follow some kind of a process because they don’t want to get sued or they don’t want any negative articles out there that might affect the brand or stock price,” @askthatrecruiter says.
@askthatrecruiter #stitch with @rosegoldcareers How to survive quiet firing: part 1 🧯#quietfiring #quietquitting #corporate #officepolitics #corporatelife #corporatetiktok #corporatetok #officelife #tech #techtok #techindustry #jobtips #careeradvice #careertips #interviewtips #interviewadvice ♬ original sound – Break Into Tech 🚀| No courses
In follow-up vidoes @askthatrecruiter posted additional tips to avoid quiet firing, like making sure to build relationships outside of direct managers.
“Building relationships with all these people outside of your direct manager effectively reduces the amount of leverage they have over you,” they say.
They also mentioned collecting “receipts” and creating a paper trail of correspondence, such as creating agenda items for one-on-one meetings and sharing them with a manager ahead of time while also ensuring meetings end with actionable next steps that have been properly documented and shared.
“You have now created a paper trail where there is accountability, and it’s going to be so much harder for them to try to gaslight you,” @askthatrecruiter says.
In a LinkedIn News poll, more than 80% of respondents said they have either seen or experienced quiet firing firsthand.
“It’s about time to expose all this nonsense going on in the workplace,” one commenter said on one of @askthatrecruiter’s videos.
“Companies have been doing this for years,” another person said about quiet firing. “People just caught on and they’re not waiting for it to happen.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @askthatrecruiter via TikTok comment.
