The proportion of adults willing to go the extra mile to help their employer has dropped from 69% in 2015 to 55% in 2025, according to a survey of 4,656 adults by the Resolution Foundation.
The trend known as “quiet quitting”—where employees fulfill basic job duties while refusing extra tasks or after-hours emails—may be weighing down the broader economy, analysis has revealed. Over the past decade, workers across Britain have grown less engaged and less inclined to put in additional effort, contributing to a post-pandemic productivity slump, according to a report from the Resolution Foundation. This phenomenon has also spread beyond the United States, appearing in Europe and Asia, albeit to a lesser extent, following the sudden disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread adoption of remote working models.
Workers Prioritize Work-Life Balance over Extra Tasks
The concept gained traction on social media platforms like TikTok shortly after the pandemic. Driven by frustrations over high demands, low pay, and squeezed living standards, online posts urged workers to focus on work-life balance and “act their wage” rather than volunteering for extra tasks or monitoring work communications outside normal hours. The think tank noted that its report findings aligned closely with this phenomenon.
Survey data indicates that workers are significantly less committed to their roles than they were ten years ago. The percentage of those who were not even “fairly” satisfied with their roles has sunk to one-in-four, the lowest level on record. Only 63% of survey respondents described their job as interesting, down from 74% a decade prior. Workplace issues such as job and wage inequities, increased workloads, and role conflicts frequently emerge in the business world, altering employee attitudes and habits while resulting in burnout, turnover intentions, and disengagement.
Living Standards Drive Increased Focus on Pay
The report observed that workers have grown more focused on pay than previously, a trend linked directly to flatlining living standards over the last ten years. However, Sir John Curtice, politics professor and co-editor of the report, emphasized that the data does not indicate younger generations are becoming work-shy or generally reluctant to switch jobs.
The shift in workplace engagement coincides with a productivity growth slowdown that originally began around the financial crisis and intensified further following the pandemic.