Quiet Quitting Is a Trend Taking Over TikTok and Possibly Your Workplace

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Aug 28

Closing your laptop at 5 p.m. Doing only your assigned tasks. Spending more time with family. These are just some of the common examples used to define the latest workplace trend of "quiet quitting." Some experts say it's a misnomer and should really be defined as carving out time to take care of yourself.

Ed Zitron, who runs a media consulting business for tech startups and publishes the labor-focused newsletter Where's Your Ed At, believes the term stems from companies exploiting their employees' labor and how these businesses benefit from a culture of overwork without additional compensation.

"If you want people to go 'above and beyond,' compensate them for it. Give them $200. Pay them for the extra work," Zitron told NPR over email. "Show them the direct path from 'I am going above and beyond' to 'I am being rewarded for doing so.'"

Quiet quitting doesn't actually involve quitting. Instead, it has been deemed a response to hustle culture and burnout; employees are "quitting" going above and beyond and declining to do tasks they are not being paid for.

How employees have changed their approach to work

Workplace culture has gone through many changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, including with the "great resignation." Some workers are negotiating for better work conditions and benefits with newfound leverage.

Some workers have expressed a desire for a less rigid line between their work and personal selves. Professionals told NPR's Morning Edition how during the pandemic, they have made changes in their work lives, from how they dress to their career field, to align more closely with their personal values.

"I started to realize that all of the hang-ups about being away from work to spend time with my kids, that was all me wanting to be a really good employee," Kristin Zawatski told NPR's Morning Edition. "But my work speaks for itself."

Zawatski works in project management, a job that has afforded her the flexibility she needs as a mom of two. Although she would always make sure her work was done, she felt guilty whenever she needed to leave early or take a day off. That changed with the pandemic.

"Knowing that life could be short, I didn't want to waste it anymore all the time just worrying about what kind of employee I was, because my kids don't care what kind of employee I am," Zawatski said. "My kids care what kind of mom I am."

Quiet quitting is in line with a larger reevaluation of how work fits into our lives and not the other way around. As Gen Z is entering the workforce, the idea of quiet quitting has gained traction as Gen Zers deal with burnout and never-ending demands.

However, Gen Z is not the first generation to experience burnout, and quiet quitting is not a new idea. Zitron shared his frustrations with the framing of the term, because it mischaracterizes doing the tasks you are paid for with the idea of quitting your job.

"The term 'quiet quitting' is so offensive, because it suggests that people that do their work have somehow quit their job, framing workers as some sort of villain in an equation where they're doing exactly what they were told," Zitron said.

Employers benefit financially from workers doing extra work without compensation and it is reasonable for employees to push back against that, he added.

"It's part of an overwhelming trend of pro-boss propaganda, trying to frame workers that don't do free work for their bosses as somehow stealing from the company," Zitron said.

For employers that are dealing with workers who may be exhibiting signs of quiet quitting, Zitron has one simple message for them: Pay them for extra work.

If you are experiencing burnout at work, setting boundaries can help you regain some control. Additionally, working on addressing workplace conflict head-on can make a situation easier — or be a sign it's time to move on.

By: Amina Kilpatrick

Source: Quiet quitting is a trend taking over TikTok and possibly your workplace : NPR

Critics by Mariah Espada

Maggie Perkins, a Georgia-based teaching advocate, had been working as a teacher for nearly half a decade before she decided to "quiet quit" her job. The decision didn't mean she'd leave her position, but rather limit her work to her contract hours. Nothing more, nothing less.

"No matter how much I hustle as a teacher, there isn't a growth system or recognition incentive," Perkins told TIME. "If I didn't quiet quit my teaching job, I would burn out."

Perkins joins a larger online community of workers who have been sharing their experiences on TikTok, taking a "quiet quitting" mentality—the concept of no longer going above and beyond, and instead doing what their job description requires of them and only that.

The movement comes in the wake of a global pandemic that caused employees to reimagine what work could look like, considering the potentials of extending remote work, not working much on Fridays, or in some cases, amid the Great Resignation, not working at all. Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post and CEO at Thrive, wrote in a viral LinkedIn post, "Quiet quitting isn't just about quitting on a job, it's a step toward quitting on life."

Why companies are worried about quiet quitting

With worries of an economic slowdown swirling, productivity levels are a major concern to company executives. U.S. nonfarm worker productivity in the second quarter has fallen 2.5% since the same period last year, its steepest annual drop since 1948, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Companies are now looking at productivity scales as a metric for excellence, with some going as far as moderating employees' keyboard activity.

Major tech companies like Google are signaling that they are slowing hiring and could lay off staff amid concerns about overall productivity. Johnny C. Taylor Jr., President and CEO of Society for Human Resource Management, the world's largest HR society, says remote work has caused severe burnout, Zoom fatigue, and made it harder for some workers to take breaks from home. "I don't know a company in America that is not sensitized to burnout and the need for employees to step away from the workplace for their mental health."

Taylor, who, as a CEO himself leads a team of over 500 associates, advocates for his employees taking time off when they're feeling overworked, but he doesn't see how embracing quiet quitting will be helpful to employees in the long term. "I understand the concept, but the words are off-putting," he says. "Anyone who tells their business leader they are a quiet quitter is likely not to have a job for very long."

Gergo Vari, CEO of job board platform Lensa, also believes the decision won't serve employees long-term either. "Anytime that you silence your own voice in an organization, you may be depriving yourself of the opportunity to change that organization," says his spokesperson.

Employees acting on their dissatisfaction at work isn't only potentially affecting their job security. Gallup's State of the Global Workplace report found that job dissatisfaction is at a staggering all-time high and that unhappy and disengaged workers cost the global economy $7.8 trillion in lost productivity.

The decision to step away from "hustle culture" can cause tension between employees and company executives, and can also cause a rift between fellow colleagues who may have to pick up the slack. "Whether people feel like their coworkers are committed to quality work can affect the performance of the organization and cause friction inside teams and organizations," says Jim Harter, Chief Scientist for Gallup's workplace management practice...

Related contents:

"Quiet quitting: why doing the bare minimum at work has gone global". the Guardian. 2022-08-06. Retrieved 2022-08-12.

Bakshi, Pema. "In Defence Of 'Quiet Quitting' Your Job". http://www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2022-08-12.

Scott, Ellen (2022-07-29). "Could 'quiet quitting' your job be the answer to burnout? What you need to know". Metro. Retrieved 2022-08-12.

Yang, Lindsay Ellis and Angela (2022-08-12). "If Your Co-Workers Are 'Quiet Quitting,' Here's What That Means". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-08-12.

Kolev, Galin (2022-08-16). "What Is "Quiet Quitting" (And Should You Join The Trend)". Officetopics.com. Retrieved 2022-08-18"

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