Are you ‘quiet cracking’? This dangerous workplace condition is affecting workers across the US — here’s how to build a financial escape plan

Unlike quiet quitting, quiet cracking isn’t immediately visible — but is equally harmful. According to Gallup’s 2025 State of the Workplace report, disengaged employees cost the global economy $438 billion in 2024 (2).

And the trend shows no sign of slowing down. A 2026 Gallup survey reveals that just 31% of U.S. employees were actively engaged at work in 2025. After a decade of steady growth, employee engagement reached a high of 36% in 2020, and has been declining ever since — representing a staggering eight million fewer engaged employees over five years (3).

This troubling trend is likely the result of the massive amount of workplace disruption since the pandemic, according to the State of the Workplace report.

Post-pandemic retirements and turnover led to a hiring boom (and bust), resulting in rapidly restructured teams and departments. Additional challenges, such as shrinking budgets and disrupted supply chains, compounded the problem. Digital transformation and AI tools have also brought their own share of increased output expectations without an increase in pay or headcount.

Taken together, these stressors may have created the perfect storm known as “quiet cracking.”

What is quiet cracking?

While quiet quitting refers to workers who purposely slack off at a job they no longer want, quiet cracking refers to those who “gradually become mired in feeling both unappreciated by managers and closed off from career advancement while doing work they otherwise like,” according to Inc. (4).

Or, as TalentLMS puts it, people who feel “some kind of workplace funk.”

It’s a deeper, harder-to-detect burnout where workers silently struggle under ongoing pressure. Those affected feel less valued and less confident about their future at work. Employees don’t always recognize the warning signs until they’re “spinning their wheels doing jobs they’re losing interest in yet stick with, fearing it will be too difficult to find a new one,” according to Inc.

The trends impacting quiet cracking, and how to mitigate them

The TalentLMS survey of 1,000 U.S. employees found that top concerns include:

• Economic uncertainty
• Workload and job expectations
• Poor leadership or uncertain company direction
• Layoffs or restructuring
• Lack of career advancement opportunities

To address quiet cracking, the first step is recognizing its causes — feeling stuck, unheard or uncertain about the future.

According to Nikhil Arora, CEO of Epignosis, the solution is simple: Offer growth opportunities through learning, skill development and open communication to re-engage employees (5).

But there are other possible solutions that can also be considered:

1. Uncertainty and overload

It’s important to set expectations and balance workloads, since 29% of employees say their workload is unmanageable. Employers can help by auditing task distribution, setting clear expectations and offering stress management tools. This helps employees regain a sense of purpose and momentum.

2. Lack of recognition and growth

Employees experiencing quiet cracking are 152% more likely to feel undervalued, according to the TalentLMS survey. Regularly recognizing contributions is a simple yet powerful way to boost morale and engagement.

3. Few learning or career advancement opportunities

Employees who received training in the past year feel 140% more secure in their roles. To combat stagnation, employers should invest in structured learning paths, mentorship and clear communication about growth opportunities — even when resources are limited.

What employees and employers can do

Employees noticing quiet cracking should discuss workload and expectations with their managers, suggest morale-boosting ideas and seek development opportunities. If improvements don’t happen, they may need to consider leaving.

Managers can combat disengagement by auditing engagement efforts, addressing gaps in support and recognition, advocating for appropriate headcount and implementing regular feedback and learning programs.

Quiet cracking is a business risk that undermines productivity, creativity and loyalty — making it crucial to act early.

Create a financial cushion

To prepare for any career shift, employees need to build a financial safety cushion, including an emergency fund.

Having such a fund in place offers flexibility — whether to take time to plan your next career move, explore new opportunities or simply leave a toxic work environment without immediate financial stress.

A high-yield account, such as a SoFi checking account, can help you build your wealth base through a combination of high-interest rates, zero fees and ease of access.

A SoFi account can provide a base 3.30% APY, but new clients can get a 0.70% boost for up to 6 months for a total APY of 4%. That’s more than 10 times the national deposit rate, according to the FDIC’s March report (6).

With no account fees and no-fee overdraft coverage, you keep more of your money in your pocket. Plus, SoFi account balances of up to $3 million are insured by the FDIC through program banks.

To energize your emergency fund, you can get up to $300 when you sign up with SoFi and set up direct deposit.

Leverage automatic investing

Once your emergency fund is in place, you could channel your extra funds into investing. One easy way to get started is by automatically investing your spare change with Acorns.

How it works is simple: Acorns automatically rounds up your everyday purchases to the nearest dollar and invests the difference into a diversified portfolio of ETFs. In other words, each transaction, whether it’s your daily coffee or a trip to the grocery store, contributes to building your nest egg.

For example, if you grab a $9.62 slice of pizza late at night, Acorns will round it up to $10 and invest the 38-cent difference — all before your head even hits the pillow. These small amounts add up over time.

Acorns is also offering an extra $20 for those who sign up with a recurring deposit.

Capitalize on real estate

Another long-term strategy for developing wealth that can hold you up through a career transition is to explore investing in real estate through assets like the $34.4 trillion U.S. home equity market (7).

You can tap into this market with the help of real estate crowdfunding platforms like Arrived.

Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of vacation rental properties, earning a passive income stream without the extra work that comes with being a landlord of your own property.

To get started, simply browse through their selection of vetted properties, each picked for their potential appreciation and income generation. Once you choose a property, you can start investing with as little as $100.

And for a limited time, when you open an account and add $1,000 or more, Arrived will credit your account with a 1% match.

Multifamily and industrial rentals offer another great investment opportunity, as both have a strong outlook for 2026 (8).

If diversifying into multifamily and industrial rentals appeals to you, you could consider investing with Lightstone DIRECT, a new investing platform from the Lightstone Group, one of the largest private real estate companies in the country with over 25,000 multifamily units in its portfolio.

Since they eliminate intermediaries — brokers and crowdfunding middlemen — accredited investors with a minimum investment of $100,000 can gain direct access to institutional-quality multifamily opportunities. This streamlined model can help reduce fees while enhancing transparency and control.

And with Lightstone DIRECT, you invest in single-asset multifamily deals alongside Lightstone — a true partner — as Lightstone puts at least 20% of its own capital into every offering. All of Lightstone’s investment opportunities undergo a rigorous, multistage review before being approved by Lightstone’s Principals, including Founder David Lichtenstein.

How it works is simple: Just sign up with your email, and you can schedule a call with a capital formation expert to assess your investment opportunities. From here, all you have to do is verify your details to begin investing.