The term "quiet quitting" exploded across social media in 2022, but for remote team leaders, this phenomenon presents a unique challenge: how do you spot disengagement when you can't see your team in person? Unlike in an office, there's no body language to read, no hallway conversations to overhear, and no visible signs that someone has mentally checked out.
According to Gallup, at least 50% of the U.S. workforce are quiet quitters—employees who do the bare minimum and are psychologically detached from their work. For remote teams, this number could be even higher, as disengagement can hide behind green status indicators and timely Slack responses.
The good news? Quiet quitting leaves digital footprints. Here are five early warning signs to watch for—and what to do when you spot them.
1. Camera-Off Culture Becomes the Norm
When an employee who used to participate actively in video calls starts keeping their camera off consistently, it's often the first visible sign of withdrawal. This isn't about occasional bad hair days—it's a pattern of disengagement that signals they're no longer invested in being "present" with the team.
What to watch for:
- Cameras off for multiple consecutive meetings
- Minimal verbal participation (yes/no answers only)
- Joining meetings at the last second and leaving immediately
What to do:
Don't mandate cameras—this creates resentment. Instead, schedule a casual 1:1 to check in. Ask open-ended questions about their workload and how they're feeling about current projects. Often, camera avoidance is a symptom of burnout or feeling disconnected from the team's purpose.
2. Response Times Become Consistently Longer
Everyone has slow days, but when an employee's baseline response time shifts from minutes to hours—or hours to days—it's a red flag. Quiet quitters often delay responses because they're no longer prioritizing work communication.
The key is tracking the change over time, not absolute response speed. A developer who used to respond in 30 minutes now taking 3 hours is a bigger signal than someone who's always been a slow responder.
What to watch for:
- A 2-3x increase in average response time
- Replies that are shorter and less engaged than before
- Missing messages that require more than a simple answer
What to do:
Avoid calling out the behavior directly—this puts people on the defensive. Instead, use your next 1:1 to discuss communication preferences and whether they feel overwhelmed by their current workload. Sometimes slower responses indicate they're drowning in tasks, not checking out.
3. Zero Voluntary Participation
Engaged employees volunteer for projects, share ideas in brainstorms, and participate in optional team activities. Quiet quitters do the exact opposite—they fulfill their explicit job requirements and nothing more.
What to watch for:
- Never volunteering for new projects or initiatives
- Silence during brainstorming sessions
- Skipping optional team social events or virtual happy hours
- No reactions or comments in team channels (even positive ones)
What to do:
Consider whether your team activities are genuinely optional or carry implicit pressure. Then, try giving this person more ownership over a project that aligns with their strengths. Sometimes re-engagement comes from feeling like their specific contributions matter.
4. Sudden Boundary Changes
Healthy boundaries are important—but sudden, dramatic changes in availability often signal something deeper. An employee who used to be flexible about meeting times but now only works strict 9-to-5 hours might be pulling back emotionally from their role.
What to watch for:
- Logging off exactly at 5pm when they used to be more flexible
- Declining all meetings outside their preferred hours
- Status changes from "active" to "away" at exactly the same time daily
What to do:
First, respect the boundaries—they might be setting them for valid personal reasons. But use your 1:1 to understand what prompted the change. Ask: "I noticed you've been more structured with your hours lately. Is there anything I can help with to make your workday more manageable?"
5. The Disappearing Personality
In remote work, much of our personality comes through in how we communicate digitally. When an employee stops using their usual humor, emoji reactions, or casual banter, their messages become purely transactional—and that's a warning sign.
What to watch for:
- Messages that used to include friendly greetings now jump straight to business
- No emoji reactions in channels where they used to participate
- Shorter, clipped responses without their usual communication style
What to do:
This is often a sign of emotional exhaustion. Reach out with genuine curiosity about how they're doing—not about their work output. Sometimes the most powerful intervention is simply asking, "How are you really doing?"
Taking Action: The Manager's Response Framework
When you spot these signs, resist the urge to address them head-on. Confronting someone about "quiet quitting" will only make them defensive. Instead:
- Observe the pattern for at least two weeks before acting
- Schedule a genuine check-in (not a performance conversation)
- Ask about their career goals and whether they feel challenged
- Explore whether workload, team dynamics, or personal issues are contributing
- Co-create a plan that addresses their specific needs
Prevention is Better Than Detection
The best approach to quiet quitting isn't surveillance—it's creating an environment where people want to engage. Regular 1:1s, clear growth paths, meaningful recognition, and manageable workloads prevent most disengagement before it starts.
Tools like Yander can help you track these engagement patterns across your team—not to catch people doing the bare minimum, but to identify when someone needs support before they've fully disengaged. Because by the time quiet quitting is obvious, the employee has often already mentally resigned.
The question isn't "how do I make people work harder?" It's "how do I create conditions where people want to bring their full selves to work?" Answer that, and quiet quitting becomes a non-issue.
Written by
Yander Team
Employee Engagement Experts
The Yander team helps remote leaders understand and improve team engagement through data-driven insights. We believe in privacy-first approaches that support both managers and employees.