3 min read

Quiet Hiring—Opportunity or Dumpster Fire? 5 | 5

Brandi Neal Mar 8, 2023 12:01:22 AM

Quiet Hiring—Opportunity or Dumpster Fire? 5 | 5

Table of Contents

On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason, Amy and Brandi discuss Quiet Hiring, Turnover Contagion and Layoff Survivor Guilt. These byproducts of layoffs can lead to a culture of fear, and when people are working out of fear, they start to avoid taking risks. They learn less, they grow less, they innovate less, and they become less than they could be. The way you treat people when times are tough determines whether you’ll get their best effort, a perfunctory effort, or an effort to sabotage you. When you treat people like cogs in a machine, you’ll get no more than you demand, and you create an incentive to break the machine.

Listen to the episode:

Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a Glance

On our last episode, we talked about the emotional and financial effects of layoffs on folks who’ve lost their jobs. Now we’re going to talk about what happens to the people who are left behind.

We’re going to explore a few different terms you may have heard recently: Quiet Hiring, Turnover Contagion, and Layoff Survivor Guilt. 

Radical Candor podcast

Quiet Hiring, which means — in the context we’ll be discussing it — that those who’ve retained their jobs will be doing a lot more work because the work still needs to get done and the people who were doing it are no longer there.

In this current landscape, some companies are framing Quiet Hiring as a path to upskilling and career advancement, but many employees experience it as being tricked into doing undesirable work for little or no rewards.

Turnover Contagion — a phenomenon that occurs when an increased number of employees resign after a round of layoffs.

According to a report from Visier, a human-resources analytics company, “There is a ‘contagion’ effect inside teams when people are asked to leave involuntarily: some of their peers are more likely to resign in response.”

Layoff Survivor Guilt — feeling guilty to still be working for an organization that just conducted a mass layoff. In addition, those left behind may also be fearful that they’ll be next. This means managers must prioritize rebuilding trust with their employees after a layoff.

On Twitter Catherine Morgan, author of This Isn't Working! Evolving the Way We Work to Decrease Stress, Anxiety, and Depression, said:

I was talking with a client about the ‘survivor guilt’ she felt, having made it through a big round of layoffs. It is an unnerving and heartbreaking experience — even if you still have your job. You feel untethered and you can smell the fear.”

Radical Candor Podcast Checklist

  1.  If you suddenly find yourself experiencing Quiet Hiring, talk to your manager about how you can leverage your new responsibilities toward your professional development goals. It’s also appropriate to ask how you’ll be compensated for doing additional work.
  2. When you do have information that affects your team, commit to delivering it as soon as possible in a way that’s kind and clear. Allow the people who are left behind to ask questions and provide answers if you have them. If you don’t know the answer, it’s OK to admit that you don’t know, but be clear that you will deliver relevant news as soon as you have it.
  3. If you’re a manager, have intentional Career Conversations with each person on your team. Let them know that you’re doing this in good faith and not to use it against them. Based on these conversations try to redistribute the work.

Radical Candor Podcast Resources

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Key Questions Covered

What is Quiet Hiring and why are employees frustrated by it?

Quiet Hiring refers to a practice where employees who survive layoffs are assigned significantly more work — because the work still needs to get done, even though the people who were doing it are gone. Some companies frame it as an upskilling or career advancement opportunity, but many employees experience it as being pressured into taking on undesirable responsibilities with little or no additional compensation. The frustration stems from feeling tricked rather than genuinely developed.

What is Turnover Contagion and how does it relate to layoffs?

Turnover Contagion is a phenomenon where an increased number of employees voluntarily resign after a round of layoffs. According to a Visier HR analytics report, there is a measurable "contagion" effect inside teams when peers are let go involuntarily — some remaining employees become more likely to quit in response. This makes layoffs doubly damaging: companies lose the people they cut and risk losing people they intended to keep.

What is Layoff Survivor Guilt and how should managers address it?

Layoff Survivor Guilt is the feeling of guilt and anxiety experienced by employees who still have their jobs after a mass layoff. They may feel bad for their former colleagues and fearful that they could be next. Author Catherine Morgan describes it as feeling "untethered" and being able to "smell the fear." Managers should prioritize rebuilding trust by having open, honest conversations, answering questions transparently, and admitting when they don't yet have answers — while committing to share relevant news as soon as it's available.

How should an employee respond if they're being quietly hired?

If you find yourself suddenly taking on significantly more work after layoffs, the Radical Candor team recommends proactively talking to your manager about two things: first, how your new responsibilities can be tied to your professional development goals; and second, how you'll be compensated for the additional workload. Framing the conversation around your growth and fair compensation keeps it constructive rather than adversarial.

What can managers do to rebuild trust after layoffs?

Managers can rebuild trust after layoffs by taking several intentional steps: communicate information to your team as soon as possible, in a way that is both kind and clear; create space for employees to ask questions and answer them honestly; acknowledge when you don't have answers but commit to following up; and hold genuine Career Conversations with each team member. These conversations should be done in good faith — explicitly telling employees you're not gathering information to use against them — and used to thoughtfully redistribute work based on individual goals and strengths.

Why does treating employees poorly during layoffs hurt long-term business performance?

According to the Radical Candor framework, when people work out of fear, they stop taking risks — and as a result, they learn less, grow less, and innovate less. The way leaders treat people during hard times directly shapes whether they'll receive their team's best effort, a bare-minimum effort, or even active disengagement. Treating employees like interchangeable parts signals that they don't matter, which creates conditions where people do only what's demanded and have little incentive to go above and beyond.

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