The Impacts of Organizational Changes on Work Engagement and Quiet Quitting

Abstract

Change has become a constant theme in the world where all organizations face new challenges and opportunities that require them to constantly adapt and evolve. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of organizational agility and adaptability in the face of challenges and uncertainties. A recent Gallup poll revealed that most workers in the U.S. workforce are either quiet quitting or highly disengaged. This study aims to investigate the relationship between various organizational changes and the likelihood of work engagement, quiet quitting, and high disengagement. Drawing on a survey on 252 employees in various companies, we find that organizational changes including higher demand for competence, improved results monitoring, enhanced informal communication, and job redesign increased the likelihood of work engagement relative to quiet quitting and high disengagement. Furthermore, organizational and job characteristics such as perceived organizational support and job autonomy moderated the relationship between organizational changes and the likelihood of work engagement, quiet quitting, and high disengagement. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.