Employee disengagement is an old issue. But there is a new term for it now — ‘quiet cracking’ , coined by researchers at Talent LMS, an employee training programme. Unlike ‘quiet quitting’ or burnout, quiet cracking does not manifest in obvious ways. But the research report, which surveyed over 1,000 US employees, says there are steep costs of ignoring the signs of disengagement. Employees in a state of quiet cracking are less likely to take on extra responsibilities, share ideas with team members, or attend company/team events. An increased focus on ‘return to office’ and presenteeism and toxic work cultures are the leading causes of quiet cracking. Well, if a colleague is not enthusiastic about assignments, and has flat responses, the signs are all there that he or she is ‘cracking’ and it is time to intervene.

Tunnelling ahead

June 15 marked an unusual day — a celebration of women in mining. Vedanta, which has the largest cohort of women in underground mining, celebrated the day with fervour. In the early 20th century, women working in metals and mining were a common sight. However, the Indian Mining Act of 1923 restricted their entry into underground mines, and a complete ban was imposed in 1937 under British rule. The restriction was briefly lifted, from 1943 to 1946 — allowing nearly 70,000 women to work underground. But it was only in 2019, after a petition by seven mining engineering students, that the Indian government finally lifted the ban, and Vedanta’s Hindustan Zinc became the first company to deploy women engineers in its underground mines. Currently over 550 women work in core mining operations at Vedanta. Hindustan Zinc has the distinction of having three all-woman underground mine rescue teams.

Yogeshwari Rane, India’s first woman to clear the first-class examination in both underground and opencast mining, who works at the company’s iron ore mine in Goa, said, “Coming from the mining-rich area of Goa, I was always fascinated with this field.” At Zawar Group of Mines in Rajasthan, Sandhya Rasakatla said she was proud to be India’s first female underground mine manager.

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Published on June 22, 2025