If your boss is asking you to do more at work for the same pay, watch out — you're being 'quiet hired'
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- Some companies are cutting jobs and expecting remaining employees to do more for the same pay.
- But on the heels of an exhausting pandemic, many workers are already burned out.
- Instead of increasing demands and expecting compliance, bosses need to build trust, said one expert.
Olivia didn't feel the water getting warmer at first.
Her workload as a part-time employment attorney at a local college started off manageable. But gradually her boss began piling on more without acknowledging that Olivia already had a lot to do.
"I know that the whole frog-in-a-boiling-pot thing has been biologically disproven, but that's the way it felt," she told Insider. Olivia was referring, of course, to the urban myth about how a frog plunged into boiling water leaps out immediately, but one put into room-temperature water that's slowly heated up isn't aware of the change and cooks to death.
"My requests for help were ignored," said Olivia, who asked that her last name not be used to protect her privacy. "I kept hearing that enrollment was down and budgets were tight. It was a subtle way of letting us know not to ask for too much."
As employers worry about a possible recession, some have resorted to job cuts and hiring freezes. Remaining employees, in turn, are left to pick up the slack. And many, like Olivia, have noticed that they're taking on new responsibilities and tasks — but not getting raises.
On one level, this is business as usual in a downturn. Companies trim costs and often expect employees to step up when the economy slows, parroting platitudes like "do more with less." What's different today, though, is that some employers are increasing their demands on workers on the heels of an exhausting and devastating pandemic, and at a time when levels of worker burnout are alarmingly high.
"There's a feeling of, 'I barely made it through the pandemic and now you're telling me I have to do more?'" Heidi Brooks, a senior lecturer in organizational behavior at Yale's School of Management, told Insider. "Employees feel like they need to hustle extra to meet these expanded demands and increased expectations, and they're wondering, 'Is anyone looking out for the quality of my experience?'"
The unsustainability of 'quiet hiring'
Workers today feel overworked and underpaid.
Yale SOM
Gartner, the research firm and consultancy, refers to this phenomenon as "quiet hiring," and paints it as potentially a win-win for companies and employees alike. The idea being that employers silently shoveling more work onto their employees helps the company's bottom line while providing workers with new assignments that stretch their skills and further their careers.
In other words: Rather than begrudge the extra work, employees should feel grateful for the opportunity. "One possible framing and upside of being given more work is that you are valued," said Brooks.
But lots of employees don't buy that — and their anguish even has a new name: Resenteeism. The term, a play on presenteeism, refers to workers' desires to keep their jobs, even when they don't want to, namely, because they're worried about job security or a lack of alternatives.
Wendy, a senior project manager for a tech company who also asked that her last name not be used, can relate. She recalled that during the pandemic, her company's management insisted on "all hands on deck" during "tough, unprecedented times," and employees rose to the challenge.
She recalled that during the pandemic, her company's management insisted on "all hands on deck" during "tough, unprecedented times," and employees rose to the challenge.
"We all pitched in — we were performing and producing and the company did well."
Working at that blazing pace was unsustainable, but she said her bosses became accustomed to all that productivity. Over the past year, her company has conducted layoffs and furloughs and cut down on its use of contractors. The number of projects remains the same, however. Wendy received a modest annual raise, but her company also temporarily suspended its 401(k) contributions.
"Look, I understand the way business works," Wendy said. "But right now corporations are decreasing costs and kowtowing to shareholders without taking into account the human side of things."
"And then they wonder why morale sucks," she added.
Employers need to be more empathetic and transparent
Even workers who feel lucky to have a job after their colleagues were cut are frustrated.
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Parker, who spoke on the condition Insider not use his last name, said his boss hasn't mentioned his increased workload. And Parker said that while he's tired and stressed, he doesn't want to bring it up with his manager. "I don't want to lose the job," he said. "It's not appropriate to push back."
But therein lies the problem, said Brooks, the organizational behaviorist at Yale. In the aftermath of the pandemic, and at a time of rising awareness about the dangers of overwork and burnout, employers need to be more empathetic and transparent.
Cutting costs by reshuffling employees and reallocating workloads is a necessary strategy in an uncertain economy. But failing to understand and acknowledge how that strategy affects employees is "shortsighted" and "tone-deaf to workers' experiences," she said.
Instead, Brooks said that employers need to thank their employees for their efforts and make them feel valued, even if they're unable to increase their salaries.
"Rather than increasing demands and expecting compliance, you need to build trust," she said. "If you want employees who are fighting for the company in a downturn, you might need to fight for them."