Quiet Quitting (QQ) has recently attracted growing research attention, aiming to clarify its definition and dimensions. Building on Social Exchange Theory and psychological contract literature, QQ has been conceptualised as a multidimensional construct encompassing behavioural and emotional components. While behavioural QQ (QQBE) reflects a strategic reduction of work effort, emotional QQ (QQEM) captures negative affective reactions when perceived effort exceeds received benefits. Despite increasing interest, evidence on QQ's consequences remains limited.


This explorative cross-sectional and multi-group study aimed to examine the relationships between QQ, Need for Recovery (N4R), and Exhaustion (EXA), and to test potential differences across career stages (≤10 vs. >10 years).


Data were collected from 4,218 employees (60.4% male; 34.9% aged ≤40; 21.4% with ≤10 years of job tenure). The anonymous Qualtrics questionnaire, distributed by HR managers, included validated international scales. Multigroup SEM analyses were conducted using Mplus.


Among the main results, differences emerged between the two career-stage groups regarding the direct effects of the two QQ dimensions on EXA. Specifically, in the group with tenure ≤10 years, QQBE showed a significant positive effect on exhaustion, while QQEM showed a negative but non-significant effect. In the group tenure >10 years, the QQBE dimension was not significant, whereas the QQEM dimension showed a significant positive association with EXA. However, the indirect effects of both QQBE and QQEM on EXA through N4R were similar and significant across groups.


Findings highlight different patterns of associations between QQBE and QQEM and EXA across career stages. These results may suggest the need for targeted interventions promoting recovery resources. However, the cross-sectional design limits causal inference, and future longitudinal studies are required to confirm these associations.