Quiet quitting: Are workers taking advantage or taking control?

https://news.yahoo.com/quiet-quitting-are-workers-taking-advantage-or-taking-control-154103038.html

Excerpts:

What’s happening
Over the past few weeks, the term “quiet quitting” has suddenly emerged to the center of debate about the American workplace. Thanks largely to a series of viral posts on TikTok, the phrase has evolved from an online discussion point to real-life controversy that has drawn the attention not only of workers but of the executives who manage them and the companies that employ them.

"Quiet quitting" is a bit of a misnomer, since it doesn’t actually mean leaving one’s job. Instead, the term describes a variety of ways in which workers reduce the time and energy they commit to their jobs.

In a post that now has more than 3.4 million views, TikTok user zaidleppelin described quiet quitting as a rebalancing of expectations. “You’re not outright quitting your job, but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond at work. You’re still performing your duties, but you’re no longer subscribing to the hustle-culture mentality that work has to be your life.”

Unlike the so-called Great Resignation, which featured record numbers of workers leaving their jobs over the past year, there’s no way to track how many people are quietly quitting at their jobs — or even if quiet quitting is a real phenomenon beyond a few attention-grabbing anecdotes. There is some evidence, however, to suggest that workers’ commitment to their jobs is very low. Recent polling from Gallup found that a large share of the U.S. workforce — including more than half of workers born after 1989 — can be classified as “not engaged” while on the job.

Why there’s debate
The emergence of quiet quitting as an ethos has been celebrated by some as an overdue correction to historic workplace trends and also derided as a risky trend that could harm individual workers and the economy as a whole.

Supporters of the movement say quiet quitters are merely fulfilling their duties as laid out in their job description, something that only seems remarkable in the context of exploitative workplace culture that is so pervasive in the U.S. Some economists argue that the current tight labor market and lingering resentment from the pandemic have given workers the power and motivation to wrest back control of their professional lives and free themselves to find fulfillment outside the office. Others say that even employers will benefit from having a workforce that is less prone to burnout — a problem especially pronounced in younger workers.

The most vocal critics of quiet quitting say it's nothing more than laziness. But even among those who are sympathetic to concerns about overwork, there are some who argue that quiet quitting is the wrong response. Many say quiet quitters risk not only hurting the companies they work for, but also undermining their own careers, by denying themselves the chance to advance to a place where they can find more fulfillment in their work. “You have to go beyond because you want to — that’s how you achieve success,” “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary said in a video for CNBC. Others, including the founder of HuffPost, Ariana Huffington, say dissatisfied workers should take the initiative to seek out more worthwhile employment, either in their current job or elsewhere, rather than choosing mediocrity for themselves.

Another group rejects the idea that there’s anything new or remarkable about quiet quitting, if it’s even really happening on a widespread scale. They argue that it’s simply a new way to describe a tension between management and labor that has existed as long as work itself.

I suspect much of this is overhang from all the special Covid provisions from the last two years, like the extended unemployment, the defining of "essential workers", govt. interference in rent and mortgage enforcement, employers setting up for their workforce to work at home, things like that.  It may sort itself out over the next few years.  But maybe not.

I suspect much of this is overhang from all the special Covid provisions from the last two years, like the extended unemployment, the defining of "essential workers", govt. interference in rent and mortgage enforcement, employers setting up for their workforce to work at home, things like that.  It may sort itself out over the next few years.  But maybe not.


Oh, it's definitely a result of Covid and the whole "work at home" thing. The more people "work at home" the less they work.

The best career advice I ever got was from a Life In Hell cartoon (written by Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons).


THE SECRET OF SUCCESS:

Step 1. Get a job.

Step 2. Get a better job.

Step 3. Repeat as necessary.


It worked for me.  8)

I was born a "quiet quiter" in that case, according to the definition.  ;D That's how it has always been like for me. I don't strive to go above the expectations of a job... I just do the best I can for the work that is expected on the job. And I get paid for it. Simple as that. I feel bad for people who spend their whole lives obsessed with their careers and getting promoted. I work to get by and I view my job as a transaction. Do what is in the job expectations, and get paid for it, simple as that.

I was born a "quiet quiter" in that case, according to the definition.  ;D That's how it has always been like for me. I don't strive to go above the expectations of a job... I just do the best I can for the work that is expected on the job. And I get paid for it. Simple as that. I feel bad for people who spend their whole lives obsessed with their careers and getting promoted. I work to get by and I view my job as a transaction. Do what is in the job expectations, and get paid for it, simple as that.


Same. I do the parts of my job that I enjoy and feel comfortable with, my niche. The other things that demotivate me I just snub it and hopefully my coworker takes care of. He's a lot more motivated than I am and always running in circles. I also try to not be available after hours, and definitely not when I'm sleeping.

Oh, it's definitely a result of Covid and the whole "work at home" thing. The more people "work at home" the less they work.


But will they receive a paycheck?

I was born a "quiet quiter" in that case, according to the definition.  ;D That's how it has always been like for me. I don't strive to go above the expectations of a job... I just do the best I can for the work that is expected on the job. And I get paid for it. Simple as that. I feel bad for people who spend their whole lives obsessed with their careers and getting promoted. I work to get by and I view my job as a transaction. Do what is in the job expectations, and get paid for it, simple as that.

As being a cart attendant I just do what is expected of me, I've been doing this for 15 years.

Same old worker resistance to speed-ups or onerous expectations that amount to exploitation.  "Work to rule" goes back to the beginnings of wage labor and some examples include sabotage in order to slow the machinery.  Nothing new under the sun

It's quiet....until they fart!  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

We used to call this “retiring on the job”.  ;D

Instead, the term describes a variety of ways in which workers reduce the time and energy they commit to their jobs.

This is 100% me.  I work a customer service job overnights, which means I make big bucks to not do very much work, and when I do get work, I don't put a lot of effort into it. 

Looks like quiet quitting is here to stay. According to a new Axios/Generation Lab poll, Gen Zers just love it.

The Staying Power of Quiet Quitting
Erica Pandey, author of Axios Finish Line

www.axios.com/2022/09/21/quiet-quitting-gen-z-work-jobs-minimum

The work philosophy of quiet quitting — a rebellion against the "rise and grind" ethos — is spreading quickly and widely among young workers. And this has the potential to change how we all work.

Driving the news: 82% of Gen Zers say the idea of doing the minimum required to keep their jobs is pretty or extremely appealing. And some 15% of that share are already doing it, per a new Axios/Generation Lab poll.

The desire to work to live, instead of living to work, is consistent across gender, race and political views.

85% of young women find the idea of doing the minimum to get by appealing, and 79% of young men feel the same way.
82% of white respondents, 86% of Black respondents and 79% of Asian respondents share this view of work, as do 84% of Democrats, 79% of Republicans and 83% of independents.

Respondents also ranked work lower on their list of priorities than family, friends, wellness and hobbies.

Our thought bubble: The new generation of office workers has been shaped by hybrid and remote culture, and values work-life balance far more than generations that came before it.

It'll be difficult for employers to change the tide.

Reality check: Despite the widespread appeal of quiet quitting, respondents say they want to work an average of 8–9 hours per day.

They're willing to engage with work, but they want to let go of grind culture and redefine work as an 8-hours-per-day, 40-hours-per-week part of life.
The bottom line: The numbers show that quiet quitting cuts across demographics and may be here to stay.

Methodology: This poll was conducted Sept. 12-15 from a representative sample of 828 18 to 29-year-olds nationwide. The margin of error is +/- 3.4 percentage points.

I'm glad we as a society are acknowledging the most basic principle ever... working sucks

I'm glad we as a society are acknowledging the most basic principle ever... working sucks

Work doesn't suck if you enjoy what you do.

Here's an article about Gen Z and how they are organizing unions and labor activism through social media platforms (especially TikTok of course).

https://news.yahoo.com/gen-zs-not-lazy-theyre-100100188.html

Here's an article about Gen Z and how they are organizing unions and labor activism through social media platforms (especially TikTok of course).

https://news.yahoo.com/gen-zs-not-lazy-theyre-100100188.html


Today’s union organizers are wimps.

Back in the day if somebody crossed a picket line, a beat down would soon be delivered.

Nowadays the unions just whine. Bottom line, there are plenty of laws protecting union organizing (including laws that violate the First Amendment rights of employers) but the unions generally can’t “close the deal” with most workers.

‘Bare Minimum Monday’ is the latest workplace trend hitting productivity

https://fortune.com/2023/02/13/bare-minimum-monday-is-the-latest-workplace-trend-hitting-productivity/

There’s a reason songs about Mondays tend to be downers.

Monday blues—that inertia people feel about starting the work week after a weekend—are one of the more common problems among working people. In a 2021 poll by YouGov, 58% of the 4,000 people surveyed responded that Monday was their least favorite day of the week. Now, a new way of dealing with that problem is one of the latest workplace trends—and one that’s not likely to make businesses happy.

“Bare Minimum Mondays” are a version of the Monday blues, with potential ramifications to employee productivity and the employer-employee equation. It’s a practice where employees show up to work to only do the bare minimum on a Monday, often starting the day late after a productive morning of self-care rituals.

This term has been popularized by Marisa Jo, a TikToker, who describes it as a way for her to quell the work pressure and hold herself accountable to “completing the least amount of work necessary to get by that day.”

Jo’s videos about the work trend have gone viral on TikTok, with her most recent video posted last week getting over 670,000 views. In that video, Jo walks through some of her habits to slow down Mondays and do things that make her feel good. She has a dedicated playlist to the so-called “bare minimum Mondays,” and the hashtag #bareminimummondays has about 1.8 million views.

In a video she described the trend as “rejection of all the pressure I felt on Sunday and Monday” and prioritizing well-being over productivity instead of giving in to the hustle culture. 

“I had to tell myself to do the bare minimum in order to not make myself sick over how productive I was being,” she says in the video.

Jo compares the practice to a trend like quiet quitting, where employees silently retreat from their work after doing the base level of tasks to focus on their personal lives. She adopted bare minimum Mondays to cope with the pressure of being productive at work everyday and going the extra mile with work-related to-dos.

Jo’s viral trend is just the latest in the long list of new trends shaping the workplace in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prolonged lockdowns and a sudden shift to work-from-home culture saw many employees overwork, burn out, and quit their jobs in droves, marking the Great Resignation. Even though much of business began trickling back to normal in 2022, Jill Cotton, a career trends expert at Glassdoor, pointed out that burnout hit record numbers last year.

“This means that despite all the changes, despite more flexibility, more remote work, we’re not getting that work-life balance right,” she told Fortune. “When we look at what it is that employees and workers really want at the moment, it’s autonomy.”

Offshoots of the quiet quitting trend like resenteeism and chaotic working have caught on across the world, so much so that it warranted a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month. Experts said that such trends reflect a changing relationship between employees and their companies, and could be a result of a workplace in need of repair.

“A lot of great employees will be productive when their companies set them up for success,” Cotton said. “I think that it’s less about the bare minimum Mondays having an impact on productivity and more about employees and employers working together to create the most productive workplace possible.”