Resignations without notices – Inside the rising trend of ‘revenge quitting’: What do experts say?

A quiet trend where employees resign suddenly without notice to express frustration. Someone logs off on a Friday and never logs back in. No farewell emails. No carefully worded resignation note. Just absence — leaving colleagues to connect the dots and managers scrambling for answers.

This is what is termed as ‘revenge quitting’.

Revenge quitting refers to when employees abruptly leave a job, often without notice, as an act of protest against poor treatment, toxic management, among other issues.

What is ‘revenge quitting’?

Revenge quitting is not about securing a better offer or chasing a higher pay cheque. It’s about ‘quitting’ because staying feels like surrender, as per reports by Monster, Harper’s BAZAAR – an American fashion magazine.

Unlike a typical resignations, which include a formal resignation letter, notice periods – ‘revenge quitting’ is emotional and deliberate. It is meant to be noticed.

The term has gained visibility recently, but the sentiment has been simmering for years, as per surveys.

What survey says?

A survey carried out in March 2025 by job platform Monster, which polled more than 3,600 workers across the US, found that 47% had quit a job abruptly to express frustration or dissatisfaction. 57% of the survey takers also said they had watched a co-worker do the same.

But, are the figures justified?

87% of respondents said revenge quitting makes sense in a poor work environment, while over half described it as a valid form of protest.

According to the Glassdoor Worklife Trends 2026 Report, employee engagement has declined sharply with workers feeling increasingly disconnected from leadership. The report attributes this growing gap to factors such as frequent layoffs and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). A similar pattern emerged in Glassdoor’s 2025 findings, which showed that 65% of employees felt stuck in their roles.

This has been the case for some time: poor career progression and salaries that fail to keep up with the rate of inflation have prompted increased unhappiness among workers.

As per Glassdoor – a job search engine which also provides employee reviews of workplaces– employee satisfaction has fallen across most industries over the past three years.

Why the ‘revenge quit’?

Monster’s survey showed that issues such as toxic work management, poor leadership or management are among some reasons that act as the motivation for workers behind ‘revenge quitting’

A toxic work environment topped the list at 32%, closely followed by poor management or leadership at 31%. Another 23% cited feeling disrespected or undervalued. Issues like pay, benefits, or work-life balance barely registered in comparison.

When one exit sparks many

For employers, revenge quitting creates a visibility problem. One sudden departure rarely stays isolated. According to Monster, 15% of workers had seen six or more colleagues quit abruptly, while 19% had witnessed two to four such exits.

When asked what could have stopped them, workers offered clear answers.

Better workplace culture topped the list at 63%. Nearly half said recognition, a change in management, or even a raise might have helped, as per Monster’s survey.

Experts weigh in

Emily Button-Lynham, the founder of EBC, a coaching consultancy, told Harper’s BAZAAR that she always advises clients “to spend time assessing if leaving their job is the only option.”

“The key advice is not to make any snap decisions, especially driven by emotions,” the magazine quoted Button-Lynham as saying.

She said a helpful first step is to reflect on what success means personally and consider the kind of life one hopes to build, and whether the current role is moving them in that direction.

Identifying what might improve job satisfaction — whether it is greater responsibility, flexibility, better pay or recognition — and raising these concerns with the employer can be helpful, the magazine report mentioned, citing the coaching consultancy founder.