Thanks to some viral TikTok videos, workplaces are abuzz with the phenomenon of ‘quiet quitting’ and how it may be intimately linked to pandemic-induced stressors and the workers’ mental health.
Contrary to what the term suggests, ‘quiet quitting’ doesn’t actually mean quitting one’s job. In the most basic terms, it is the drawing of boundaries at one’s place of work for a better work-life balance. ‘Quite quitters’ make the decision to only take on work that comes under their job description and refuse to work outside of office hours.
While most of us may think that this is some post-pandemic, woke trend, the term has been around for a while and was actually coined in 2009 by economist Mark Boldger. Among its more academically-inclined supporters, the phenomenon is also referred to as ‘acting your wage’.
While slackers actively underperform by leaving work early, taking long breaks, doing subpar work or thinking about leaving the job, ‘quiet quitters’ believe in performing their designated duties at work well but no more. They don’t mind doing their best at work but don’t believe in going above and beyond, with their working hours slipping into their family and leisure time.
Disenchantment with work life is neither new nor rare, so, why the hype around ‘quiet quitting’? Employees are not a homogenous lot and different employees accord varying levels of importance to their jobs. There are the career-oriented people for whom, their work is their life and the core of their identity. On the other hand, there is a vast majority of people who only view their jobs as a means to an end.
Whether it be due to a toxic work environment or being underpaid, the common denominator in all cases of ‘quiet quitting’ is dissatisfaction with one’s job.
Some other experts believe that ‘quiet quitting’ may just be an after-effect of our pandemic work-lives. The pandemic did bring the world to a halt and ended up redefining people’s relationship to their jobs. COVID-19 has been a mixed bag for the workers of the world. There were people who were given a glimpse of what a more balanced work-life scenario would look like while working from home. Others in the same situation saw the boundaries between work and personal life blur. A number of us faced pay cuts and even lost our jobs. Needless to say, the pandemic did succeed in jolting us out of the work-life status quo.
Being stressed, overworked and overburdened at work leads to burnout, both professional and personal. Burnout is often considered to be the reason for greater work-life conflicts in a person’s life and sucks the joy out of their everyday lives.
Therefore, it is no surprise that hustle culture is beginning to lose its sheen. Young millennials and Gen-Zers had never quite bought into the idea of sacrificing all aspects of their lives at the altar of the mighty workplace and the pandemic seems to have reinforced that belief. It has been observed that prior to the pandemic altering the work landscape, the younger generation of workers was far more invested in career development in the traditional sense but the same is not true of the post-Covid world.
From lockdown-induced layoffs to post-pandemic job insecurity, the younger generation of workers is rapidly losing touch with ideals such as company values and the craze to find one’s place in the corporate world is also dampening. More and more of these workers are looking to find meaning in what they do. They are also increasingly unwilling to sacrifice their peace and mental well-being for the sake of a paycheck.
A real-world phenomenon or an overhyped trend, however we decide to look at ‘quiet quitting’, one thing is certain: the terrain of the workplace and people’s expectations from their employers are changing. The new-age workforce is not shy about its demands and from the looks of it, the employers are beginning to listen.
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