What does Quiet Hiring mean for SMEs?
Unlike large companies, which have extensive HR resources, SMEs often have to operate with limited options. Quiet Hiring here often means that existing employees take on additional responsibilities without clear development prospects or fair compensation being guaranteed.
Typical scenarios in SMEs:
- Employees take on additional tasks without receiving an official promotion or salary increase.
- Roles are redistributed to compensate for vacancies, leading to an increased workload.
- Talent mobility becomes the central concept, without the employees concerned being involved in the decision-making process.
Critical aspects of quiet hiring in SMEs
Although quiet hiring is advertised as a flexible personnel strategy, it has serious disadvantages, especially for SMEs:
- Long-term overburdening of employees: constant redeployment often leads to stress, dissatisfaction and increased absenteeism.
- Talent mobility without prospects: without a clear development strategy, employees feel exploited, which leads to demotivation and fluctuation.
- Loss of innovation due to a lack of external impulses: Without fresh talent from outside, a company can become blinkered.
- Lack of recognition for extra work: New tasks are often taken for granted without employees being rewarded accordingly.
- Risk of losing skilled employees: Those who don't feel valued will sooner or later move on.
How SMEs can avoid quiet hiring or make it work for them
Rather than using quiet hiring as a long-term strategy, SMEs should consider alternative solutions:
➡ Transparent talent mobility: Employees should be involved in decisions and given clear information about their prospects.
➡ Fair compensation: Additional tasks must be appropriately remunerated or compensated for by other forms of relief.
➡ Targeted training: Instead of simply redistributing tasks, SMEs should invest in their employees' skills.
➡ Don't neglect external recruitment: Although quiet hiring offers short-term solutions, external specialists are essential for long-term success.
➡ Employee retention as a priority: A healthy work environment and real development opportunities prevent churn.
Conclusion: Quiet Hiring is not a sustainable solution for SMEs
While Quiet Hiring can compensate for resource bottlenecks in the short term, it is not a long-term strategy for SMEs. Companies that rely solely on internal redistribution risk decreasing employee motivation, increased fluctuation and a loss of innovation.
Instead of using Quiet Hiring as a stopgap solution, SMEs should focus on sustainable HR strategies that build on talent mobility with perspective, fair compensation and a healthy balance between internal development and external recruitment.
