NPR: All of the quiet quitting rolling through the country is starting to make some real economic noise. Data now shows that the U.S. workforce is not as productive as just a year ago — it seems people are not producing as much in the hours between clocking in and clocking out each day. In the end, this could have a profound effect on the country’s well-being, according to economists. Nearly 20 million people were laid off in a matter of weeks as the pandemic took hold, regardless of whether they had strong work ethics, good performance or loyalty to a company. Then the economic winds shifted just months later, and companies were suddenly desperate to hire. Firings and layoffs reached historic lows. Existing employees were often worked to the point of burnout, newbies with less experience were brought on at a higher wage, and employers overlooked things that could have cost workers their jobs in the past. Workers came away from all of this feeling like the connection between working hard and being rewarded was broken, one economist said.