From Quiet Quitting to Knowledge Hiding: Unraveling the Path through Employee Silence

This research examines the relationship between quiet quitting strategies , i.e., organizational, relational, and work-life spillover, and knowledge-hiding behaviors. Drawing on social exchange theory, the study investigates how these quiet quitting strategies impact knowledge hiding, including evasive hiding, playing dumb, and rationalized hiding, where employee silence acts as a mediator. The study employed PLS-SEM and Smart PLS 4 and collected data from 466 IT professionals from China to establish that quiet quitting strategy and knowledge-hiding behaviors have direct and indirect relationships. Results : Relational quitting and work-life spillover quitting have a significant impact on knowledge-hiding behaviors, however, organizational quitting has not a significant impact on evasive knowledge-hiding. Employee silence mediates these relationships, strengthening the impact of quiet quitting strategies on knowledge-holding. It emphasizes employee silence as the course of organizational quitting. IPMA also highlights the significance of employee silence in the current study model. Open employees’ communication channels help to prevent employees quiet quitting.