Tired of Your Job But Need the Money?… Try Quiet Quitting

Although a recent viral Tik-Tok made the term quiet quitting popular, it actually dates back to 2009. Coined by the economist Mark Boldger, quiet quitting was specifically used to describe Venezuelan workers with a perceived as having diminished will and ambition.

Currently, quiet quitting is used to describe workers who are no longer willing to bend over backward to be the employee of the month at the expense of personal well-being. The act of quiet quitting isn’t new. They have always been people who have committed to the bare minimum at their jobs. With the spotlight on quiet quitting, people are choosing to maintain work-life balance and set up professional boundaries for their overall well-being.

What Does Quiet Quitting Look Like?

Since quiet quitting doesn’t really involve ending employment, what does it look like? With this phenomenon, individuals still come to work every day as scheduled. However, under the quiet quitting work model workers do not overextend themselves to fulfill specific job titles.

Quiet quitting shows up differently for everyone. For some, it may involve setting boundaries where work is completed at a specific time. For others, quiet quitting may be the refusal to perform job duties beyond the official job description.

Doing the Bare Minimum

Why are so many people attracted to the concept of quiet quitting? Because it allows people to establish workplace boundaries while maintaining an income source. Many people are tired of overextending themselves only to not receive rewards for being a stellar employee. Plus, some individuals have decided to pull back from offering their energy in a work situation that does not reciprocate value, especially in the form of monetary compensation.

It appears that millennials and Gen Z are more likely to directly speak about adopting the quiet quitting model. However, it is important to note that people have been practicing the art of quiet quitting since the beginning of time. It’s just that quiet quitting hasn’t been an official public discussion up until now. People have been doing the bare minimum at their jobs for a variety of reasons, and this will continue as more people feel that the only way to achieve a work-life balance is to set professional boundaries.

Setting Professional Boundaries

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Some people adopt the quiet quitting model because they genuinely feel as if their employer takes advantage of them. Many of us have been the employee that is officially off the clock at 5 P.M. but continues to work at home. This is especially the case for salaried employees. Even hourly workers use quiet quitting to leverage employee dissatisfaction with the need for income.

Employees are tired of unwavering loyalty to employers who don’t reciprocate the same energy. Just consider the many companies that request that employees work hard only to replace them on a whim. Now, employees are more interested in loyalty to the self and doing only what is needed to earn income to sustain themselves.

An Option to the Great Resignation

Individuals against quiet quitting often state that if people are discontent with their jobs, why don’t they just quit? Well, people don’t quit their jobs even if they are discontent because they need the income. So, individuals who are discontent with their employers only do what is necessary professionally to ensure a paycheck.

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Some even believe that quiet quitting is an option to the Great Resignation. With the Great Resignation, people opted to officially quit their jobs for a variety of reasons from choosing to trade up for better-paying positions to pursuing self-employment.

After the pandemic of 2020, people became used to working from the comfort of their homes making the return to the physical workplace challenging for many. In many ways, the time at homemade workplace inequities and dissatisfaction glaringly obvious.

In an ideal world, people would be able to quit a job they dislike without a negative impact. However, the majority of people require regular income from employment to sustain themselves which is why quiet quitting has become popular.

Maintain Work-Life Balance

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Those who support quiet quitting note that they choose to do the bare minimum in job duties in an effort to push back against being overworked without appreciation. Many companies urge their employees to overextend themselves to prove their value to a company.

However, many people feel that they often work long hard hours and are never really appreciated by the companies that they give so much to. Some even go as far as to compare the relationship between employees and companies to toxic relationships that lack reciprocity.

Quiet quitting offers the option to establish a work-life balance. This is especially true for individuals who are often in a position where they have to bring work home and especially for those who already work from home.

In some cases, there are employers who feel that remote employees should do more since they don’t have to commute! However, many individuals are pushing back at this perspective reminding companies that employees should have a life beyond work.

While many companies claim to promote a work-life balance for employees, many workers do not experience this. Through quiet quitting, employees are taking back their power and only giving energy as necessary when completing job-related tasks. In doing so, many people found that they are able to devote more time for the self instead of pouring all of their energy into being an undervalued employee of the month.

Advice for Companies Dealing with Quiet Quitters

Ultimately, while it may be easy to look at individuals who do the bare minimum at work as lazy, the concept of quiet quitting is understandable. Many individuals don’t see the point of working long hard hours without being properly compensated.

It appears people are done with the days of bending over backward to prove themselves to companies, who will only then turn around and treat employees as if they’re expendable. Through quiet quitting, employees understand the value they bring to the professional environments, they are no longer interested in pouring professional energy into companies that are not willing or capable of offering reciprocity.

It should be noted that while quiet quitting is an option for some, there are many professions where quiet quitting isn’t feasible and in some cases, it could be downright dangerous to the employee and others. This is especially true for professionals of a certain level of expertise and experience where performing job duties at optimal levels is a must.

Ultimately, those who choose quiet quitting as a method of dealing with less than favorable work conditions are in the position to create workplace boundaries that allow them to maintain work-life balance and avoid the professional overextension that can result in worker burnout.