Prior research has shown that burnout is a serious issue with important implications for work-life balance and employee well-being. Yet relatively less attention has been paid to the ways in which employees deal with burnout. We leverage the current labor environment to examine the role of quiet quitting (i.e., the process of limiting work effort to the contractual obligations of the job) in an employee’s attempt to restore satisfaction with work-life balance in the face of burnout. Using data from 203 U.S. accountants, we develop a measure of quiet quitting and examine quiet quitting as a mediator of the relationship between burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance. We find support for the idea that employees use quiet quitting as a recalibration of the effort devoted to work in an attempt to restore work-life balance. This study has implications for policies and/or company actions to balance productivity demands with considerations for employee well-being.

Accepted Oral Presentation