Korean slang profile
조용한 퇴사
joyonghan toesa
Quiet quitting
Staying in a job while working only within its defined duties and hours and declining overtime.
- Expanded form
- Not documented
- Other spellings
- 조용한 사직
- Earliest source found
- Sep 14, 2022
- Documented trend period
- Not verified
This is the earliest source we have verified, not the date the term was coined.
01Examples, with English translations
- Example by Julimmal
요즘 조용한 퇴사라는 말이 자주 보이더라.
I've been seeing the expression “quiet quitting” a lot lately.
- Quoted from a source
조용한 사직이란 직장을 그만두지는 않지만 정해진 시간과 업무 범위 안에서만 일하고 초과근무를 거부하는 노동방식을 뜻한다[1]
Quiet quitting means staying in a job while working only within set hours and duties and refusing overtime.
English translation by Julimmal.
02Documented history
- September 2022The Kyunghyang Shinmun introduced the new word ‘조용한 사직 (Quiet quitting)’, which was popular on social media, and wrote that it went viral through a video posted by an American engineer on TikTok in July.[1]
- September 2022EToday wrote the same word as ‘조용한 퇴사 (quiet quitting)’ and wrote in a column that the pandemic was a new phenomenon among office workers.[2]
03Origin & word formation
A translation of “quiet quitting.” Kyunghyang Shinmun uses 조용한 사직 and EToday uses 조용한 퇴사; both attribute its spread to a U.S. engineer's TikTok video. The articles give different names for that person, so no name is stated here.
Evidence for the origin explanationMedium
The two articles describe the same trigger but use different Korean expressions and give different names for the person involved. The earliest-source date uses the Kyunghyang Shinmun date for 조용한 사직.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- 마음은 이미 ‘퇴사’, 초과근무 “거부”…신조어 ‘조용한 사직’ 아시나요? (경향신문)Published Sep 14, 2022Original source checked Nov 5, 2026
- [데스크칼럼] ‘조용한 퇴사’가 요란한 까닭 (이투데이)Published Sep 21, 2022Original source checked Nov 5, 2026