With the increase in global job opportunities in 2022, there was also an increase in worker stress.

Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2023 polled over 120,000 employees around the world to discover the major factors impacting their lives.

Data from Europe demonstrated that the continent is home to the lowest proportion of ‘engaged employees’, just13 per cent, as opposed to the average of 23 per cent.

The picture painted is of a world where workers are in the process of disengaging from difficult, demoralising or pointless work.

In fact, 15 per cent of those workers classed themselves as ‘actively disengaged’.

This puts the ‘quiet quitting’ phenomenon into context.

Even though 23 per cent is a dire number for the rest of the world, Europe needs to reckon with its toxic or disorganised workplaces if there is any hope to help workers and even boost productivity as a result.

One of the most interesting stats is that even though they are unhappier, the European workers were below average for anger and stress and the desire to find another job.

So, it would seem, that the resignation of the European worker does not come in the form of a letter, but in the form of drudgery, keeping their heads down and doing just enough to get by at work.

The quiet quitters know what they would change at work, if they could.

The fact is that companies resist that change.

Especially if they believe that nothing is wrong.

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