One out of every two office workers in South Korea can be characterized as “quiet quitters” – employees who have mentally checked out but remain on the payroll. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Mar. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent survey has found that one out of every two office workers in South Korea can be characterized as “quiet quitters” – employees who have mentally checked out but remain on the payroll, doing only the bare minimum required.
The survey of 1,097 office workers by HR tech company Incruit revealed that 51.7% of respondents identified themselves as currently in a state of quiet quitting. The phenomenon was most prevalent among those with 8-10 years of experience (57.4%), followed by 5-7 year veterans (56%) and those with 17-19 years under their belts (54.7%).
For those quiet quitters, dissatisfaction with current compensation and benefits (32.6%) topped the list of reasons, closely followed by a general lack of motivation (29.8%) and active preparation to switch jobs (20.5%).
Intriguingly, 65.8% of all respondents said they viewed quiet quitting by colleagues in a “positive” light. When it comes to actually resigning, over half (56.8%) described themselves as “strategic quitters” who secretly line up a new role before departing, while 27.6% were “quiet quitters” who only give notice to close confidants.
Just 11% were “impulsive quitters” who hand in their resignation on the spur of the moment, with a mere 3.6% being “loud quitters” who broadcast their intentions.
Recent viral “loud quitting” trends on social media among Gen Z workers, where people publicly shame companies during their resignation, drew a mixed response.
While 44.3% said such behavior was acceptable if the company’s name was kept confidential, 31.4% were completely unbothered. Only 24.2% viewed loud quitting negatively regardless of anonymity.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
