Quiet firing is spreading, but there are business risks to tactics to push workers out

Businesses looking to cut jobs don’t want to do it through layoffs, but stricter RTO rules and other tactics are pushing workers out.

As more companies demand employees spend more days in their workplaces each week, some critics claim that tightening return to office (RTO) rules in part aim to provoke resignations from employees unwilling to give up their remote or hybrid work arrangements. Data now suggests employer use of that indirect quiet-firing manner of reducing head count is far more widespread than previously suspected — and often involves tactics that go beyond ordering people back to their desks.