First there was quiet quitting. Now it's become grumpy staying.

• Quiet quitting is getting louder as more unhappy workers are staying put.
• Welcome to grumpy staying, in which workers begrudgingly skate by in a tightening job market.
• They may not feel much loyalty or trust in their firms, but fewer jobs means they're not leaving, either.

Workers are staying in their jobs, but some aren't happy about it.

Over the last two years, they might have joined the Great Resignation or just quiet quit. But as the job market cools off, and more companies issue return-to-office mandates, some employees may feel compelled to get louder about their dissatisfaction — while still keeping their job.

Take Microsoft. An internal poll obtained by Insider's Ashley Stewart found that less than half — 47% — of surveyed employees would stay with the firm if they got a comparable offer, down from 70% in November. Stewart reports that a Microsoft spokesperson disputed the exact numbers, but acknowledged that the positive response to that question has indeed fallen.

Another poll at Salesforce, also obtained by Stewart, found that just 34% of respondents said the firm does a good job of retention, and 37% felt secure in their long-term futures there. One area that took a significant dip: Just 50% of respondents said there was a climate of trust.

Gallup's 2023 State of the Global Workplace report, which surveyed 122,416 workers across the world, found that 59% of employees are quiet quitting — and 18% are "loud quitting."

Loud quitters are actively disengaged, per Gallup, and rather than putting in minimal work, they actually directly harm their firms.

But that doesn't mean that those "loud quitting" are actually, you know, quitting.

Welcome to "grumpy staying," where workers don't have the leverage to quit, and some aren't too pleased about staying. It shows how employers have, to some degree, flipped the switch on their workers and taken back some of the nascent power they accrued during the Great Resignation; without structural changes, those gains were short lived.

Call them loud quitters or grumpy stayers: More people are keeping their jobs, but still want change

Workers aren't switching jobs at the breakneck pace they maintained through 2022.

Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, found in a recent analysis that the number of people quitting has plummeted in 2023. And the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary found that in April — the most recent month with data available — the quits rate continued its gradual decline, falling slightly to 2.4%.

The slowdown comes after two years of workers enjoying the benefits of a labor shortage, allowing them to negotiate more pay and benefits from employers desperate to hire. Now that the shortage has eased, however, the fundamental structure of our economy — one that ties healthcare to employment, for example — hasn't changed, inflation remains high, and people need to work.

Indeed's Wage Tracker indicates that skyrocketing pay is slowing down, and just 43.5% of consumers say jobs are "plentiful," a marked decline in the Consumer Confidence Survey. At the same time, job openings edged up a little, but are far from Great Resignation heights. Those openings are also dominated by blue-collar positions, further proving that blue-collar jobs are holding the economy down.

As wages barely keep up with inflation, and the prospect of a recession means some workers are fearing layoffs, many have no choice but to keep punching the clock — and grumble around the water cooler.

Are you grumpy staying at your job? Contact this reporter at [email protected].