Employees at a workplace can emotionally withdraw and check out mentally with a phenomenon called disengagement. This disengagement has become one of the most worrying trends of mid-2020. The phenomenon of “quiet quitting” is more about boundary-setting than disengagement. However, it has become much more than just a phenomenon. The business world has created a new term called ‘quiet cracking’ since employees aren’t choosing to do the bare minimum. The reality is that many employees are broken and burned out due to workplace systemic failures. The economy is suffering from thousands of dollars of economic losses due to this disengagement tidal wave which is not merely an HR issue. In this paper, we discuss the research that is available to help analyze the situation, i.e., broken management structures, the rise of burnout, and the disengagement of workers.
The Managerial Breakdown: A Crisis of Leadership
There are deep-rooted issues of management in the case of the disengagement crises. Global employee management was reported to be 21% in the Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2025 report. Manager engagement dropped from 30% to 27% and in turn, caused the majority of reduction in management engagement.
The statistics clearly show the importance of managers: 70% of engagement in a team comes from the managerial level. If managers are disengaged, overwhelmed, and struggling to meet the conflicted demands of managers and employees lower down the hierarchy, then the teams are likely to be disengaged as well. Young managers (under the age of 35) as well as female managers are taking the largest proportions of drops in engagement and wellbeing. The burdens managers are carrying can be referred to as the ‘impossible middle’, since they must ensure that transitions of disruptive changes from post-pandemic turnover and AI integration smoothly transition, oftentimes with little support.
Beyond Burnout: The Rise of “Quiet Cracking”
While burnout has always been an issue, the extent and scale to which it’s impacting the workforce is concerning. For the first time in history, the American workforce is experiencing job burnout in the following percentages: 2025 report stated 66% of workers are experiencing job burnout. Generation Burnout is of particular concern 81% of 18 to 24 and 83% of 25 to 34 experience job burnout.
The chronic stress and exhaustion are resulting in the new trend of “quiet cracking,” which references an employee’s disengagement and poor job satisfaction. Employees are breaking down from the burnout and are setting boundaries because of the following results from the survey:
| Factor | Percentage of Employees Affected | Source |
| More work than time | 24% | Forbes/Moodle |
| Lack of resources or tools | 24% | Forbes/Moodle |
| Labor shortages (taking on too much) | 19% | Forbes/Moodle |
| Low pay (mental checkout reason) | 33% of disengaged employees | Infeedo |
The psychological impact of this sustained pressure is profound. As one expert notes, a person can feel mentally checked out if they are under chronic stress over a prolonged period, leading to a lack of fulfillment and unresolved emotional issues.
The External Pressures: Financial Stress and the RTO Mandate
Workplace crises involve various external factors that heavily influence the work-life of any employee.
Financial Stress
The crises of today’s world, including inflation and the increasing costs of housing, are worsening employee mental checkout. Almost 40% of HR and benefits leaders regard financial stress as a key factor impacting the mental well-being of employees. Additionally, disengaged employees point to low pay as an aggravating factor that contributes to their mental checks at work. This shows that while workplace culture and purpose are critical, ignoring employees’ financial problems will result in their disengagement.
The Return-to-Office (RTO) Mandate
The RTO mandates have increased the level of stress for employees as they are now required to work in the office full time. Losing the flexibility to work from home is not a benefit for employees who are caregivers, disabled, or otherwise. With little confidence in their RTO policies, employers lose the psychological contract they have with employees, and as a result, employees withdraw their efforts.
The Existential Threat: AI and Job Security
The mind shift due to AI integration and the resulting rapid mental checkout phenomenon is concerning. Losing jobs or seeing the scope of jobs shift is particularly concerning for younger cohorts. In a 2025 study, 27 percent of Gen Z reported that AI tools are a threat to the substitution of any of their work. Workers are faced with a real-time assessment of their roles in the organizational structure and as a result may mentally withdraw from fully participating in their work.
Re-engaging the Workforce: A Path Forward
We need mentally checked out employees to do something more profound than just shallow quick fixes. There is consensus among experts that the need for deeper engagement involves more than the use of band aids; it requires real, intentional, and sustained effort.
Quiet Quitting: The Gen Z Revolution Redefining HRM in 2026
The path forward is centered on three core pillars:
1. Greater investment in managerial coaching and empathy: As managers continue to be the key engagement facilitators, organizations must go beyond investing in role-specific training. For example, teaching managers coaching techniques and how to create psychological safety means equipping managers to ask, “What do you need from me?”, and “What motivates you?”, rather than just giving orders.
2. Purpose and Development: Balanced financial compensation is critical, but re-engagement also needs attention to purpose and development. Organizations need to alleviate feelings of stagnation by outlining development opportunities. One expert has stated that leaders need to “Refocus on Purpose with Accountability” and “Invest Generously In Development”.
3. Employee-inclusive Flexibility: RTO mandates need to be more employee-centric by incorporating flexible operating models. Understanding that linear approaches to work location strategies are dated is important for retaining and re-engaging critical talent.
Focusing on the managerial crisis, coping with the burden of burnout, and the crudeness of the press, whether financial or Tech, organizations can begin to turn the tide on mental checkout and create a truly engaged and thriving workforce.
7 Red Flags in a 2026 Job Description: How to Read Between the Lines
References
Gallup. State of the Global Workplace 2025. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx Robinson, Bryan. Job Burnout At 66% In 2025, New Study Shows. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2025/02/08/job-burnout-at-66-in-2025-new-study-shows/ Bersin, Josh. Employee Engagement and Happiness Crisis. What Should We Do?. Josh Bersin. https://joshbersin.com/2025/08/employee-engagement-and-happiness-crisis-what-should-we-do/ Sondermind. Feeling Mentally Checked Out? Find Out What That Means and What You Can Do. https://www.sondermind.com/resources/articles-and-content/feeling-mentally-checked-out-find-out-what-that-means-and-what-you-can-do/ Lumapps. Employee Disengagement is Costing You Millions—Here’s How to Fix It. https://www.lumapps.com/employee-engagement/employee-disengagement-is-costing-you-millions–heres-how-to-fix-it
👨💼 Author: BBAProject Editorial Team
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