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Quiet Quitting is not revolutionary.
Capitalism should have seen it coming.
Quiet Quitting is certainly not a new idea.
But it has gained new life thanks to becoming viral on TikTok. Just look at the 77 million views (and counting) for the hashtag #quietquitting.
Quiet Quitting is framed as employees who are working only in exchange for their paycheque. The idea is that employees are only “doing the bare minimum.” They are not “going above and beyond.”
NPR has a few examples of what quiet quitting means to employers:
- Closing your laptop at 5 p.m. (setting boundaries)
- Doing only your assigned tasks. (aka what you are paid to do)
- Spending more time with family. (having a life outside of work)
Why should employees go above and beyond?
Employers should not ask why people have stopped going “above and beyond.”
But rather, why there is an expectation for employees to go above and beyond.
I’ve been told all of these things in my short corporate career:
- “you have to put in the time.”
- “It’s a learning opportunity.”
- “it will open up new opportunities for your career.”
Another way to frame so many of these “opportunities” were — we don’t want to extend our budget and pay you for the extra work.
I get it — I’m not naive. The corporate world is built on the idea of profits. The more free labor companies yet, the lower their labor costs.
But it is also naive of businesses and employers to think that employees would finally demand to be paid what they are worth.
Quiet quitting is about:
- rejecting hustle culture
- setting boundaries
- reclaiming your energy!
The momentum has been building for a while, and the job market is certainly robust enough for employees to demand what is fair for them. Finally.
Between stagnant wages and the expectation to be always on, the momentum for “quiet quitting” has been building…
