While quiet quitting is becoming increasingly popular due to its rise on the Social Media platform Tik Tok, this idea of “quiet quitting” is not particularly new.
What is quiet quitting? “Quiet quitting” is when employees do the bare minimum at work. This does not mean they are quitting their job altogether, but instead staying on the company’s payroll and not going above and beyond and only doing the aspects of their job that are laid out in their contract. Instead, they are using this time to work on other things, like spending more time with their families. “Quiet quitting” can also be seen as a way for an employee to take some self-care time and a way for them to set boundaries away from their workplace.
Now, why does “quiet quitting” matter? It matters because as this trend gets more popular, more people will realize that if they put in the extra effort to do something more, they will not get compensated for it. This is how Maggie Perkins feels. Maggie is a schoolteacher, and in an interview, she did for the article “Is ‘quiet quitting’ a good idea? Here’s what workplace experts say,” Maggie made the point that “If you’re the person who wins teacher of the year, you’ll make the same salary as somebody who isn’t.” This is how many people feel and is why this is getting so much attention through social media. This does not mean that a teacher does not care about their students, it just means that they will not stay after school one day and plan for the next week and put in that extra time without getting compensated for it.
One group of people that quietly quitting is having the most effect on is Gen Z. Part of Gen Z’s identity is that we do not have a fear of speaking up for themselves, and in this case their jobs. There is a clear difference between how Gen Z feels about working in the workforce and how Millennials work. While Millennials were the group of workers that began to bring change to the workforce, Gen Z employees believe that some of their Millennial colleagues or bosses are more like baby boomers in that we believe hard work will pay off.
Gen Z is at the point where they see that the extra work that we do will not translate into more pay or better benefits. Many Gen Zer’s now just do what is asked of them in their job description instead of going above and beyond.
This idea of quiet quitting has been happening for years throughout many different jobs. But it is important to recognize that this quiet quitting mostly applies to privileged white employees who can afford to do this and work desk jobs. It will be interesting to see how far this will go and how employers start reacting to this if more employees from different work areas start to do the same thing.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-white-shirt-showing-frustration-3807738/
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/30/is-quiet-quitting-a-good-idea-heres-what-workplace-experts-say.html
