According to new research released from Gallup, nearly 50% of workers in the United States can be categorized as “quiet quitters,” which means they fulfill their job’s description, yet remained detached from their work psychologically. The survey, conducted in June, consisted of 15,000+ full-time and part-time workers throughout the United States.

The term “quiet quitter” is meant to describe a prevalent worker mindset that has grown popular due to the Covid pandemic’s damage to employee priorities and companies’ workplace policies shifting ever so drastically. The research found that “actively disengaged” workers rose to 18%, just a 1% jump since the beginning of the year and those “engaged” remained steady at 32% along the same time frame.

Workers indicated that they were “less connected to their organization’s mission” in late 2021. They’ve also shared the lack of clarity surrounding expectations and saw fewer opportunities to grow and learn within the workplace. A share of younger employees “strongly agree” that the presence of somebody in the workplace who “cares about them” and “encourages their development” has taken a sharp downturn. Gallup concluded that “quiet quitting is a symptom of poor management.”

On the flip side, another aspect of workplace-policy debates is the ever-growing “quiet firing,” which is the idea that employers will actively make working conditions “miserable” such as managers who deny time, opportunities to employees, or resources. This eventually leads to employees being encouraged to leave without being fired outright.