Out of interest, what makes you think they are too compliant? Is it what they themselves have said about their jobs?
I would say that "broken spirited" means not being "allowed" to feel angry or sad; being told immediately to "snap out of it" without actually feeling the emotion, and seeing it through. Children need to be told "it's fine to feel the way you are feeling". I've been guilty of snapping at my DH "stop being miserable!" when he's down, because I was trained that "miserable" was bad. I didn't understand the difference between feeling miserable, and doing miserable things, such as deliberately sulking.
The book Families and How to Survive Them has some good insights on this, explaining how people can become frightened of anger, so they don't stand up for themselves. It also says that timid children often have parents who say guilt-inducing things like "don't do that, it makes me terribly unhappy" rather than "if you do that, you'll lose that treat".
I had problems like this as a young adult: I was very afraid to stand up for myself, to be assertive, or to push for things I wanted. For example, I wouldn't take something back to a shop because it would create more work for the shop staff, or they might laugh at me. I was also a real stickler for rules, which made me unpopular. I didn't own up to mistakes at home, because I was afraid of being told off or punished; instead I lied and covered them up, which sometimes meant I got into more trouble.