Revenge Quitting Explained: Causes, Impact, And Ways To Curb It
The last few years have brought drastic changes to the workplace. Remote and hybrid work became common, suddenly shifting from a privilege enjoyed by only a small percentage of the workforce. Coupled with major layoffs across various industries, employees gained a new perspective on work-life balance and how expendable they can be for their companies. This led to the phenomenon of “quiet quitting,” where employees would emotionally check out without officially resigning. Recently, however, the trend seems to have shifted, with more employees deciding to walk out on their jobs to make a statement. This has come to be known as “revenge quitting,” and it is quickly rising as a cause of concern for leaders. Let’s see what this phenomenon involves, how it came to be, and what steps leaders can take to prevent it.
What Is Revenge Quitting? Reasons And Signs To Know About
The phenomenon of revenge quitting refers to employees abruptly leaving their jobs, with minimal or no notice. This action mostly aims to inconvenience their employer by removing their ability to prepare for their departure, thus expressing their frustration about their employment conditions.
Revenge quitting can be the result of several factors, ranging from burnout and disengagement to full-blown negative experiences in the workplace. It is often a situation that doesn’t just happen from one day to the next, but rather takes months or even years. Employees don’t just resign dramatically because their idea was cast aside once. On the contrary, it takes multiple instances of failed communication, lack of recognition, and disrespect to lead them to such a decision. Other factors have aggravated this workplace trend as well, such as rapid technological advancements, conflicting expectations between employees and employers, and the growing importance of work-life balance.
Given that it is a situation that brews for a long period of time, it is possible for leaders to catch on to the warning signs that might indicate an employee is considering revenge quitting. Let’s see what those are.
Lack Of Transparency About Professional Growth
Although employees might feel like they deserve a promotion, or even if they were promised one, they may not end up getting it. Businesses often make the mistake of initiating external hiring processes instead of giving existing employees the opportunity to advance their careers, resulting in employees feeling undervalued and overlooked.
Inability To Connect With A Deeper Purpose
It is essential for employees to feel like their work contributes to a larger purpose and is significant to their company’s overarching goals. When this sense of purpose is lacking, employees feel insignificant in the company’s overall picture, which can lead to demotivation and disengagement.
Conflicts That Fester
Conflicts in the workplace are to be expected and are not necessarily harmful. However, a lot of problems can occur when they are left unresolved long enough to start driving rifts between employees and affecting their collaboration. Leaving such issues unattended can have serious consequences on employee morale and engagement, often forcing them to look for other job opportunities.
Disengagement Towards Non-Work-Related Activities
Employees who are happy with their roles and their work environment will form a community with their colleagues and want to interact with them outside the scope of their role. This may include water cooler conversations, having lunch together, or initiating collaborative projects. Lack of such interactions may indicate that the employee is not feeling part of the company culture and will not hesitate to leave without warning if the opportunity presents itself.
What Is The Impact Of Revenge Quitting On Businesses?
At first glance, revenge quitting is a major disruptor of workflow and can significantly affect productivity for a period of time. However, there are more ways in which it can negatively impact your business.
Increased Hiring Costs
Having to replace an employee on short notice forces you to launch an emergency hiring process, for which you might not have the necessary resources. Not to mention that the pressure to fill the position may lead you to poor hiring decisions, resulting in yet another hiring process much sooner than you would have liked.
Knowledge Loss
While replacing an employee can be a straightforward process, replacing their specific skills and knowledge is much more challenging. Especially when they leave without notice, these employees often don’t share important information with their colleagues. As a result, the remaining team members are left to fill the gap created by the departing employee’s absence.
Low Employee Morale
Sudden exits can create feelings of uncertainty and frustration among the employees who stay behind. The efficiency of the team is impacted, workloads increase, and their accumulated knowledge decreases. This can hurt team morale and motivation, potentially triggering a domino effect of resignations.
Impact On Brand Reputation
A negative aspect of revenge quitting is that it might involve public exits and social media posts, which can tarnish your business’s reputation. This can impact your relationships with clients who might not trust you anymore, or potential employees who may hesitate to apply to a company that has allegedly pushed one or multiple employees to resign.
5 Steps Leaders Can Take To Prevent Revenge Quitting
1. Keep An Eye Out For Warning Signs
As we mentioned earlier, employees don’t decide to revenge-quit from one moment to the next. Considering that this is a situation that evolves over time, employers have numerous opportunities to identify the warning signs that an employee is becoming disengaged. For example, they might notice a drop in employee motivation, an extended period of low energy, or repeated missed deadlines. Keeping an eye out for such indicators enables leaders to talk to employees and figure out how they can renew their engagement before it is too late.
2. Build A Culture Of Trust And Respect
Employees are unlikely to engage in revenge quitting if they work in an open and trusting environment. Even if another job opportunity that they want to pursue presents itself, they will give ample notice before leaving. But how does one foster a culture of respect and trust? It all comes down to open communication, and more specifically, being transparent about goals, expectations, and even challenges, encouraging employees to share honest feedback and reciprocating that honesty, as well as ensuring that their voices are heard and valued. If you achieve in building such a work environment, your employees will be loyal and engaged.
3. Recognize Employees
Celebrating achievements is key to keeping employees happy, engaged, and positive towards their colleagues and, most importantly, supervisors. Remember not to focus only on the results, but also recognize and reward efforts. Even if a project didn’t turn out exactly as planned, that doesn’t mean the employees’ hard work should go unnoticed. Plus, employee recognition should be specific. Instead of saying “Good job” when no one is around, say something like “John, your contributions to the financial report for client X were crucial for their contract renewal,” and share it on a company communication channel. This way, employees will feel valued and part of a supportive community.
4. Support Flexibility And Employee Well-Being
More often than not, the main culprit behind revenge quitting is burnout. In other words, overworked, underappreciated employees whose negative feelings about their job culminate in a vindictive resignation. To prevent this, reconsider your company’s stance on employee well-being and its commitment to protecting it. Specifically, are your employees working a reasonable number of hours? Are they given flexibility options and wellness days? Can they completely disconnect outside work hours, or are they always on call? The answers to these questions will decide how healthy a workplace is and the likelihood of it leading employees to experience burnout and possibly quit.
5. Provide Opportunities For Growth And Development
Stagnancy can cause employees to feel bitter about their employer, especially when their performance more than justifies a promotion or raise. However, if your company doesn’t frequently undergo internal changes, you can still show employees your appreciation by helping them enhance their current skills or acquire new ones. Give them the chance to participate in training programs that will help them hone their hard and soft skills, such as their communication and leadership capabilities. This way, when the time comes for an opportunity to make a lateral or vertical move in their career, they will be better prepared for it.
Conclusion
A new trend is present in the business world in 2025, and it is not a positive one. As employees develop more appreciation for their well-being and work-life balance, they become more prone to loudly leaving employers who fail to express the same respect towards these values. Revenge quitting is often a result of a work environment that lacks open communication, honesty, opportunities for development, and a positive company culture. Its impact can be quite significant, making it imperative for employers to take the necessary steps to prevent employees from resigning in such a disruptive manner. Take the steps we described above into consideration to maintain an engaged workforce and prevent this workplace trend from affecting your business.