quiet hiring

Quiet hiring is when a company fills a skills gap without hiring new full-time staff, by moving existing employees into new roles, giving them extra responsibilities, or bringing in short-term contractors.

What quiet hiring means

The research firm Gartner described it as acquiring new skills and capabilities without acquiring new full-time employees. In practice, that might mean an analyst being asked to take on project management, a team being “temporarily” reshuffled after someone leaves, or freelancers covering work that would once have meant a new job posting.

Good or bad for workers?

It depends on how it’s done. Done well, quiet hiring can mean training, new skills and a path to promotion. Done badly, it’s just more work for the same pay, which is exactly the kind of thing that pushes people toward quiet quitting.

Examples

• “They didn’t replace my manager, they quietly hired me into the role without a raise.”
• “Quiet hiring is cheaper than recruiting.”
• “If they’re quiet hiring you, ask for a new title and pay to match.”

Where quiet hiring comes from

Gartner put quiet hiring at the top of its nine workplace predictions for HR leaders for 2023, in a report released in early January that year. CNBC and other outlets picked it up, and the term joined the growing family of “quiet” workplace words that followed quiet quitting.

Related terms

• Quiet quitting: doing only the minimum.
• Quiet firing: pushing someone out without firing them.
• Side hustle: paid work on top of your main job.
• Acting your wage: matching effort to pay.

More workplace terms in our work and money slang guide.