First, there was the Great Resignation. Then, as the pandemic abated and the labor market cooled, came the rise of quiet quitting and the Big Stay, when workers became more reluctant to leave their jobs.
More recently, however, employees have been reeling from the Great Betrayal, ushered in by layoffs and quiet firings, coupled with stringent return-to-office mandates and the threat of artificial intelligence. As employees have either lost their jobs or left of their own volition in response to return-to-office policies, morale has taken a hit at workplaces across the country.
Perhaps it’s not surprising that the latest workforce trend—and buzzword—is something observers are calling “revenge quitting.” This isn’t an entirely new phenomenon, since it seems to be rooted in workers feeling a sense of detachment from their jobs. The idea behind revenge quitting is that workers who feel particularly burned out or frustrated may be more likely to quit with little regard for whether they leave on good terms with their employer.
In many ways, this is a natural extension of “resenteeism” and “loud quitting,” which have been brewing since 2023. After employees have spent months—or even years—stuck in a job that brings them little satisfaction, it’s not hard to imagine they might eventually snap. This already became evident during the pandemic, when retail employees and other essential workers quit in high numbers after COVID-era changes—like enforcing mask mandates—made their jobs even more difficult.
Experts have suggested revenge quitting is likely to become a common occurrence next year: In a recent report on workplace trends for 2025, Glassdoor noted that “a wave of revenge quitting is on the horizon.” But it’s not clear what shape that might take.
Growing resentment could lead more workers to quit their jobs, but it’s also possible many will take care not to burn bridges amid a challenging job market. There are times when it can be important to speak up and call out bad behavior, even if it compromises your relationship with an employer or manager. Under other circumstances, however, the savvy approach may be to give honest feedback about why you are leaving while being respectful and giving your employer enough notice.
Still, it seems likely that we’ll continue to see turnover in the workforce next year; hiring could be revived in certain sectors, between likely cuts to interest rates and changes in the White House. And while employers wield more power than they did just a few years ago, plenty of workers are fed up—and willing to quit, one way or another.
