Quiet quitters in UK may add up to 4% hidden costs

It can be nearly as high as the cost of people actually resigning, McKinsey.

The cost of quiet quitting in the UK can add up to around 4% of the wage bill for an average large corporation, McKinsey estimated. 

“The costs of quiet quitting can be nearly as high as those of people actually leaving,” the report read. 

While the cost of quiet quitting is less obvious, research has shown that more engaged employees take fewer sick days, and have higher productivity. 

In a longitudinal Understanding Society survey with a sample of nearly 10,000, McKinsey found that quiet quitters accounted for between 20% and 40% of organisations’ workforce. 

This implies that a “significant” proportion of human capital is not being fully utilised as the research suggests that employees that make up this number take more sick days, put in less effort, and are less focused on delivering outputs. 

“Therefore, quiet quitting has material consequences for organisational performance,” McKinsey noted.

“And, from the individual workers’ perspective, staying when you don’t want to is also undesirable.”