A new study from the oil and gas sector offers a quiet but consequential reminder: disengagement is rarely born in a vacuum. When organisations systematically withhold opportunity and support — a practice researchers call quiet firing — employees respond in kind, withdrawing the discretionary effort that transforms a workplace from merely functional to genuinely alive. Yet the study also finds that strong human bonds within a workplace can soften this erosion, suggesting that the quality of our relationships at work is not incidental to performance, but foundational to it.
Study: Quiet Firing Drives Quiet Quitting; Strong Workplace Bonds Offer Buffer
Organisational practices shape engagement as much as individual motivation
Mark
So the study found that quiet firing causes quiet quitting. But what exactly counts as quiet firing? Is it always intentional?
Mimi
The research defines it as withholding opportunities, reducing support, limiting career growth, or creating an unfavourable work environment. It doesn't necessarily require intent—an employee might perceive these things even if a manager isn't consciously trying to push them out.
Luke
That's a gap worth naming. The study shows correlation, not necessarily causation. And perception matters enormously here. Two employees in the same situation might experience it very differently.
Mark
Right. So the social capital finding—strong relationships buffer the effect. Does that mean good friendships at work can overcome bad management?
Mimi
Not overcome, exactly. It weakens the connection. If you trust your colleagues and feel part of a real community, you're less likely to withdraw effort even when your manager is creating pressure. But the pressure is still there.
Luke
And we should be careful here. The study was in oil, gas and petroleum. Those industries have specific dynamics. How well do these findings travel to, say, tech or healthcare or nonprofits?
Mark
Fair point. So what's the practical takeaway for an HR leader reading this?
Mimi
Stop treating quiet quitting as purely an employee problem. Look at your management practices, your communication, whether people actually have access to growth opportunities. And invest in the relationships and trust that hold a workplace together.
Luke
Though I'd add: the study doesn't tell us which of those investments actually moves the needle most. Is it better to fix bad management or build better relationships? We don't know from this research.
Mark
So it's a starting point, not a complete answer.
Mimi
Exactly. It's permission to ask different questions about why people disengage.
Il Polso
- Researchers have drawn a measurable, direct line between management practices that push employees out quietly and the withdrawal of effort known as quiet quitting — reframing disengagement as an organisational problem, not just a personal one.
- The findings disrupt a dominant HR assumption: that an employee who does the bare minimum is failing in commitment, when in fact they may be responding rationally to an environment designed to discourage them.
- A critical counterforce emerges — workplaces rich in trust, collaboration and shared norms showed significantly reduced rates of quiet quitting even under poor management conditions, suggesting social capital acts as a genuine shield.
- HR leaders now face an uncomfortable mirror: the same scrutiny applied to employee performance must be turned toward managerial behaviour and structural access to opportunity.
- The path forward points to transparency, equitable advancement and deliberate community-building — not as cultural luxuries, but as measurable retention infrastructure.
A new study from the oil and gas sector offers a quiet but consequential reminder: disengagement is rarely born in a vacuum. When organisations systematically withhold opportunity and support — a practice researchers call quiet firing — employees respond in kind, withdrawing the discretionary effort that transforms a workplace from merely functional to genuinely alive. Yet the study also finds that strong human bonds within a workplace can soften this erosion, suggesting that the quality of our relationships at work is not incidental to performance, but foundational to it.
A study published in the International Journal of Business Information Systems has confirmed what many employees have long sensed but rarely seen quantified: when managers quietly push people out — by limiting opportunities, withdrawing support, or making advancement feel impossible — those employees respond by withdrawing their own investment in the work. The research, drawn from the oil, gas and petroleum sector, maps a clear relationship between this practice of quiet firing and the now-familiar phenomenon of quiet quitting, where workers do precisely what is required and nothing more.
What makes the findings particularly valuable is not the correlation itself, but what it implies about how organisations have been diagnosing the problem. Disengagement has too often been treated as a failure of individual motivation — a personal shortcoming to be managed or coached away. This research argues that framing is incomplete. Organisational behaviour and managerial conduct are equally responsible for whether employees remain committed or gradually retreat.
The study also surfaces a more hopeful finding. Where workplaces had cultivated strong social capital — genuine trust, collaborative habits, shared values and meaningful professional relationships — the damage caused by poor management practices was measurably reduced. Employees embedded in these networks were more resilient, less likely to disengage even when facing institutional pressure to do so. Human connection, it turns out, is not a soft benefit but a structural buffer.
For those leading HR functions and managing teams, the implications are practical and pressing. Transparent communication, fair access to growth, and supportive manager relationships are not amenities — they are the architecture of engagement. The study arrives at a moment when organisations are already wrestling with productivity, retention and wellbeing in the wake of pandemic-era disruptions. Its central challenge is direct: organisations must examine their own conduct with the same rigour they have long applied to the people who work for them.
A new study published in the International Journal of Business Information Systems has found something that might seem obvious once stated plainly: the way managers treat employees shapes whether those employees stay engaged or check out. The research, conducted in the oil, gas and petroleum sector, traced a direct line between what researchers call quiet firing—the practice of withholding opportunities, reducing support, limiting advancement, or creating an inhospitable work environment—and quiet quitting, where employees do only what their job description requires and nothing more.
The connection is straightforward. As instances of quiet firing increased, so did instances of quiet quitting. Employees who sensed indirect pressure to leave responded by withdrawing the discretionary effort that separates a functioning workplace from a thriving one. This matters because it reframes a conversation that has dominated HR discussions since the pandemic: the question of why people disengage is not purely about individual motivation or attitude. It is also about what the organisation is doing to them.
But the study uncovered something else that complicates the picture in a useful way. Strong workplace relationships—what researchers termed social capital, meaning the networks, trust, shared norms and collaborative bonds that hold a workplace together—appeared to weaken the connection between quiet firing and quiet quitting. Where these relationships were robust, employees were less likely to withdraw effort even when facing challenging organisational conditions. Trust, collaboration and shared values acted as a protective mechanism, a buffer against the damage that poor management practices might otherwise inflict.
The implications for how organisations think about retention and engagement are substantial. When an employee quiet quits, the instinct is often to treat it as a performance problem, a failure of individual commitment. The research suggests this framing is incomplete. Yes, some disengagement stems from personal factors. But organisational practices and managerial behaviour are equally consequential. An employee who perceives that their manager is actively discouraging them from staying will respond accordingly. An employee embedded in strong workplace relationships may resist that pressure longer, but the pressure itself is real and measurable.
For HR leaders and business managers, the findings point toward a broader examination of how their organisations operate. Transparent communication, equitable access to opportunities, supportive manager-employee relationships—these are not soft benefits or nice-to-haves. They are structural elements that directly influence whether people remain engaged or withdraw. The study also suggests that investing in trust-building initiatives, fostering collaboration and strengthening workplace community are not luxuries but practical tools for retention.
The timing of this research reflects a genuine shift in how workplaces function. Since the pandemic reshaped work itself, conversations about quiet quitting and employee engagement have become unavoidable. Organisations are wrestling with productivity, retention and wellbeing simultaneously, often without a clear sense of how these forces interact. This study offers evidence that workplace culture and leadership practices remain critical determinants of whether employees choose to stay committed or simply show up. The question now is whether organisations will examine their own behaviour with the same scrutiny they have applied to employee performance.
Citazioni salienti
Employee withdrawal may not always stem from individual attitudes or motivation alone. Organisational practices and managerial behaviour can also play a significant role in shaping workforce engagement.— Study findings
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