Is there a good way to be fired? Probably not. But companies today seem hard at work at making the process as miserable as possible.
Massive five-figure firing events from Meta, Walmart and a frighteningly large number of other firms (here's looking at you, Amazon, Citi and Target) are making front-page news. It's a process I call "Loud Firing."
But there's another way to fire employees: "quiet firing." That's when employers don't even whisper that workers are getting the ax. Instead, managers make jobs so unpleasant and unrewarding that employees will decide to quit on their own.
According to "Are You Being Quiet Fired? Here's How to Spot the Signs," an Alora Bopray article in USA Today, a 2025 HR Tech survey of more than 2,000 U.S. managers revealed that 53 percent of employers acknowledged using quiet-firing techniques.
That's a lot of quiet.
I don't want to worry you, but if your job is not absolutely perfect in every way, it's not impossible that you are being quietly fired. Don't freak out. Hush your mouth and I'll fill you in on what to look for and listen to with Bopray's "five clear signs of quiet firing."
No. 1: Exclusion from Meetings.
No one likes meetings, which is why everyone feels a wave of relief when they learn a meeting took place, where they could have been invited, but weren't. If this happens once or twice, it's a gift. Thrice or more, and it's what Adler University Associate Professor Jason Walker calls a "serious red flag."
There are a number of ways to respond to a meeting that's going on without your presence. If meeting rooms in your company are behind glass, and you catch the participants in flagrante delicto, let everyone know that you expect to be included. Smush your puss against the glass and lick your disapproval for all to see.
"Guess you forgot to invite me," you say after taking a seat at the conference table. Don't forget to grab a doughnut. You deserve it.
No. 2: Shifting Responsibilities.
If you're suddenly given new responsibilities, it could mean that management has finally discovered how capable you are. It could also mean they're counting on you to resign in the face of an impossible workload. Alternatively, the quiet-quitting process could include shifting your responsibilities to someone else, leaving you with nothing to do.
Either way, the company is counting on your sterling character to make you quit, rather than fail at an impossible task or flail at a meaningless one. Your job is to prove them wrong. Show that you're perfectly willing to get paid to do nothing. Heck, your manager has been doing it for years.
No. 3: Support Diminishes.
Having your manager reduce their involvement in your work is a positive for most of us, but be on the lookout for more subtle and sinister quiet-quitting techniques. For example, think it's a coincidence that your favorite color of Sharpie is no longer available in the supply closet? No way!
You could either buy your own darn Sharpies or quit. In this case, I say quit. Any company that would deny you the basic human right to a magenta Sharpie is pure evil.
No. 4: Development Stops.
Have your one-on-ones become one-on-zeros? When you ask about your future career path, does your manager natter on about nothing? Is the time between promotions measured in decades and your raises counted in pennies?
If your company has written you off, the hope is that you will write them off and quit. Don't give them the satisfaction. Hang on as long as you can. You can always get ridiculously rich writing a business humor column.
No. 5: Policy-Driven Quiet Firing.
Make no mistake, the increasing number of companies implementing an RTO (return-to-office policy) are clearly executing a quiet-quitting strategy. It will get worse once all those happier-at-home workers have bailed.
Expect an RTR (return-to-residence) policy to follow. Prepare to tie yourself to your Aeron chair and refuse to budge. Kicking you out of your calm, peaceful office and making you spend all day in your messy, hectic home is truly sadistic.
Remember, if you are a target of quiet quitting, make a ruckus. Attend every meeting. Talk to the people in power. Refuse meaningless assignments with minimal support. In short, make yourself so noisy and so noticed that no one in management will have the guts to shush you out the door.
It's our mantra for 2026. Don't get fired. Get loud!
Bob Goldman was an advertising executive at a Fortune 500 company. He offers a virtual shoulder to cry on at info@creators.com.
Copyright 2026 Creators Syndicate Inc.
