Companies are “quiet firing” employees to trim staff without having to make severance payouts or as a way to tamp down negative press or public perceptions associated with layoffs.
That’s according to a recent ResumeTemplates survey of 1,128 business leaders, which found that 53% of companies are using quiet firing to push employees out in 2025. Quiet firing refers to the act of intentionally creating an unfavorable work environment to compel employees to leave their jobs rather than formally firing them or issuing layoffs.
The report notes while the tactic can be effective, it has a negative impact on employee morale. The top quiet-firing tactics used by companies are delaying raises (47% of respondents), increasing the number of required in-office days (42%) and cutting benefits (32%).
Some companies say they are micromanaging employees (34% of respondents) and ignoring toxic workplace behavior (22%).
“From a business perspective, quiet firing can seem like an efficient way to reduce headcount without triggering layoffs, bad press or severance costs, but it’s short-sighted,” said Julia Toothacre, chief career strategist at ResumeTemplates, in the report. “Creating an environment that pushes people to quit inevitably damages morale, productivity and trust. It can also negatively impact hiring in the future.”
Of the companies that said they started quiet firing in 2025, 39% said it has reduced morale a lot while 46% said it affected morale a little bit.