Are ‘quiet firing’ and ‘quiet quitting’ real in the arts?

Are the arts the perfect breeding ground for the global trend of ‘quiet firing’ and ‘quiet quitting’, systemically plagued by burnout and job shortages.
person walking in direction of arrows

‘81,396 hours. That’s how much of life most of us spend working. The only thing we spend more time doing is sleeping. If we spend so much of life at work, how is life at work going? According to the world’s workers, not well. Gallup finds 60% of people are emotionally detached at work, and 19% are miserable.’ – Jon Clifton CEO, Gallop.

There are two terms circulating social channels and workplaces at the moment: ‘quiet firing’ and ‘quiet quitting’.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina