Beyond the Pandemic: Exploring Quiet Quitting and Job Satisfaction : A qualitative research exploring job satisfaction in “the new workplace”

Abstract: Background: The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped part of the labor market, causing an increase in remote work and consequently the rise of “quiet quitting”. Quiet quitting refers to when an employee does the bare minimum at work, and the specific reasons for its rise, vary, however, there is reason to believe that remote work can be a contributing factor due to its effect on social connections and motivation.    Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between working from home and quiet quitting, and how digital leadership can affect job satisfaction. This is because employers need to recognize and address the contributing factors of quiet quitting to be able to keep job satisfaction. Method: This thesis is a qualitative study using an interpretivist method. The research has been performed though an inductive research approach. The primary data were gathered though 20 semi-structured interviews with 10 companies form various industries located in Småland Sweden. A person in a leading position and an employee were interviewed from each organization and a thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data.    Conclusion: The result from our findings showed that remote work has a significant impact on employee job satisfaction. Many employees experienced a lack of support and feedback from their managers and colleagues, as well as lower cohesion, which many perceived effected their motivation and increase the risk of quiet quitting.  That is why managers should focus on creating “digital cohesion” by reworking their digital work, improving digital communication, and improving digital feedback. This may result in employees feeling more appreciated and committed to the organization, thus mitigating the risk of quiet quitting.