From Concept to Construct: A Multilevel Framework for Understanding and Responding to Quiet Quitting

The emergence of “quiet quitting” has attracted considerable attention in academic and managerial discourse, gaining traction across social media platforms. Despite its popularity, much of the discussion has remained descriptive or confined to behavioral framing, leaving a significant gap in integrative models connecting antecedents, manifestations, and strategic responses across multiple levels. This chapter addresses that gap by proposing a conceptual framework that positions quiet quitting as a multilevel phenomenon situated at the intersection of individual coping, organizational culture, and macro-level human capital systems. The framework builds on six foundational theoretical pillars: Coping Theory, the ABC (Antecedent–Behavior–Consequence) Model of Behavior, Crossan’s 4I (Intuiting, Interpreting, Integrating, and Institutionalizing) Organizational Learning Framework, ERG (Existence, Relatedness, and Growth) Theory, Psychological Contract Theory, and Human Capital Management (HCM). Drawing on insights from existing scholarship, including Armstrong and Pfandler’s (2024) interpretation of quiet quitting as coping, Srivastava et al.’s (2025) mapping of disengagement to organizational learning breakdown, Serenko’s (2024) call for HCM policy alignment, and Nimmi et al.’s (2024) qualitative analysis of employee narratives, the chapter advances the Quiet Workforce Strategic Engagement Framework (QW-SEF). The framework highlights critical intervention points at the micro-level through coping and boundary-setting, at the meso-level through leadership, learning, and psychological contracts, and at the macro-level through burnout prevention, skill reinvestment, and human capital policy alignment. By unifying fragmented perspectives, the chapter contributes to theory by integrating diverse scholarly insights and to practice by offering a roadmap for human resource (HR) leaders, organizational designers, and policymakers. It also establishes a conceptual foundation for future empirical research on sustainable workforce engagement.