If you are chronically online, then you will have heard the term ‘quiet quitting’. A trending phrase that’s been rearing its head on platforms like TikTok & LinkedIn. It describes employees who proudly admit to doing the bare minimum in their jobs in order to keep a salary. Of course, the phenomena of ‘Quiet Quitting’ isn’t anything new, social media has just finally given a name to work dissatisfaction.
But the sudden rush of content which has flooded sites like LinkedIn suggests that is in vogue at the moment. For some companies, I assume it sounds rather scary, for others, dare I say it sounds rather… Well, familiar?
Quiet Quitting is representative of far more than just deciding not to over-exert yourself in work. It describes the attitude towards work which new generations are bringing to the table. Young adults, who are entering the workforce for the first time, seem to be causing quite the headache for management and hiring agents.
Gen-Z, or the ‘snowflake generation’, are reported to be radically underprepared for the shift into a 9-5 working structure… And it’s not just a side-effect of Western living as he terms; ‘tofu mentality’ and ‘heart of glass’ have also been pinned to both China’s and Japan’s younger generations.
Many young adults are prioritising work-life balance after seeing their parents and older family members burn themselves out from ‘hustling’ over jobs that had no true significance.
The younger generation have also been characterised as less loyal to employers. ‘Job hopping’ as it’s been termed has been pinned as an elite sport among the youth by many news-names that want to rile up the older generations through highlighting that ‘disloyalty’. The truth is, many are changing jobs more frequently in search of better pay, opportunity and alignment. Which, to be fair, is an adequate response to stagnant wages, mass layoffs, limited advancement and opportunity.
The promised land
But it all started out well… Life’s unfair, isn’t it?
More young adults than ever have a degree from university. But what use are they in a cooling labour market and a country that lacks industry. Where is the demand to fulfill roles? Gradually the job market has become a company-centric environment rather than an employee-centric one, meaning companies can advertise job roles which pay minimum but ask for higher qualifications and extensive experience levels.
There is a pressure to accept non-ideal roles and the juggling of multiple jobs to keep heads above water. Naturally, this has and continues to contribute to higher turnover. More people are leaving education with degrees but there is no demand for their skills.
Who is at fault here?
Is it universities for marketing and pushing undergraduate degrees forward that have a lack of demand or is it the students who have been told to go to university and get a ‘good education’ all their lives?
Quiet Quitting’s equally discouraging counterpart: ‘Quiet firing’
If you haven’t heard this one before – brace yourself. Quiet firing is a phenomenon where employers make a job so unrewarding and meaningless that the employee will feel compelled to resign themselves.
How do they do this?
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- Reducing the employee’s responsibilities
- Providing little to no feedback or support
- Excluding the employee from meetings
- Creating a toxic atmosphere
- Providing insufficient coaching, support, or career development opportunities
Why don’t they just let me go transparently?
According to Harvard Business Review, employers turn to ‘quiet firing’ ‘To avoid the financial, psychological, and legal costs associated with forcing people out, some companies may intentionally create a hostile work environment that encourages people to leave voluntarily.’
What can I do about it?
Since it’s so difficult to prove, there is no legal protection against quiet firing, however, since some of the actions around it can still cross employment laws, it’s worth seeking professional legal advice.
Be as proactive as you can about communicating with your boss. This may not be easy if you work remotely and it’s easy for your boss to ignore your calls but trying to get on the same page is the best place to start.
Unfortunately, bad things do happen and we can’t always protect ourselves from it. Understand that you may not ever receive a full explanation if a company ‘silently fires’ you and remember that you probably don’t want to work for a company that doesn’t respect transparency anyway.
