Quiet firing: Are you falling victim to the latest work trend?

For some time now we’ve heard a lot about employees suddenly quitting jobs in a trend called “quiet quitting.”

But a new trend in the worforce is even more disturbing: managers suddenly deciding they need to let someone go or being given the order to let someone go. Instead of just telling the employee, however, the manager treats the employee badly to encourage the employee to quit.

LinkedIn News’ Get Ahead reported that the trend may be happening to you if your manager’s attitude toward you has shifted or your work is criticized more than usual lately.

“I would describe it as a process where a company or an individual manager doesn’t want to have a tough conversation with someone and maybe wants that person to leave, but doesn’t want to take the action or the care to dive into whether that is the right next step,” manager Method founder and CEO Ashley Herd told LinkedIn News.

According to Herd, the manager might start taking away from the employee, including changing their job title to reflect a demotion, assigning them the worst projects, in the hopes that the employee will quit.

Normally, employees might expect a manager’s shift in attitude to change back, that what they are experiencing at work is just a phase and it will pass, but quiet firing could mean you will lose your job before the phase passes. It’s possible the manager has been told to cut expenses, and cutting expenses includes cutting people. For some businesses, it’s easier to blame the employees who need to be cut than to take ownership of the fact the business is not doing well enough to maintain staff.

Communication is important if you think you are experiencing quiet firing.

“While an employee shouldn’t be the one that has to initiate that conversation, if you want to and take hold of your career, then have that conversation,” Herd said. “Say, ‘I’m committed to being here, I’m excited. But there are some things that send signals that something is going on, or I have not performed at a level you want. So, I wanted to talk through that and see if that is something that is happening or if it is something I’m perceiving.’”

Especially if you are a remote worker, you might want to review with your manager all the tasks you are responsible for each day, because your manager may not be aware of all you do. And if they let you go, they have to find someone else to take on the work you did or do the work themselves.

Then, have a conversation with yourself about whether you actually want to stay with that company, or if it’s time to move on.