What are your thoughts about this "quiet quitting" movement?

39 Comments

1. JenniferOctober 4,2022 at 11:55PM UTC

   People have been unhappy, checked out, and doing the bare minimum in their jobs since long before the media coined a new term for it. Previously, these employees would have been described as disengaged. It's always existed.

   These days, it seems like everything has to have a catchy, hashtaggable label. Creating a new term for disengagement also makes it seem like this is a new phenomenon, not something that has been going as long as people have had jobs.

   What has actually changed is the role social media is playing. Rather than people just, well... quietly doing the bare minimum, it's something to proclaim. It's a #quietquitting #antiwork movement that you're a part of. As more of the workforce is comprised of people who share most of their thoughts and lives online, it will seem like this is a "growing" phenomenon, when it is actually just more people talking about it online.

   Also, now that Quiet Quitting has been given a new term, it can be written about as an "emerging" threat. It's something companies need to be worried about. This gets more clicks, more views, resulting in more ad revenue from internet traffic.

   I basically think Quiet Quitting has always existed, just new term and more people talking about doing it. I roll my eyes whenever I see something on this "new" trend. I struggle to believe that anyone writing these articles is under the impression that previously the entire workforce was going above and beyond in their roles. It feels like an insult to our collective intelligence to repackage something and try to sell it as "new."

   Then again, it's working, so...

2. Amanda BurtOctober 5,2022 at 1:20AM UTC

   It used to be called retiring in place. Or just being "present" at work.

3. JenniferOctober 5,2022 at 5:29AM UTC

   My dad was in the military, and they called it "retired on active duty."

4. Stacey KOctober 5,2022 at 4:35PM UTC

   Exactly. Like if we rename something it's NEW!

   I had to laugh when a magazine I read referred to barefooting as "EARTHING".

   OMG.

5. Orlagh CostelloOctober 7,2022 at 12:43PM UTC

   As an engineer, earthing means being connected to the earth, or grounding - another one that was taken over by non-electrical meaning...

6. Sara TalcottOctober 7,2022 at 2:26PM UTC

   "Forest bathing" ... um, you mean hiking? LOL

7. AnonymousOctober 5,2022 at 12:32AM UTC

   I’ve heard this term but don’t think all groups of people get away with it so easily.

   For ex for many blk females the norm mindset is no matter how brilliant I am we are more concerned with how do I make sure that my boss doesn’t come up with a petty reason to get rid of me or screw me over despite my effort or downplay my talent due to their insecurities. Sorry but I can’t empathize with those who have the audacity to exercise that quiet quitting luxury. If a person is unhappy they should take proactive steps to land the next job rather than be inconsiderate and cause people to take on the work you don’t want to do bc your privilege allows you to get away with it. Sorry it needed to be said. And yes i know other types of people endure similar nonsense. I’m just speaking from an experience I know

8. AnonymousOctober 5,2022 at 2:16AM UTC

   I feel that most employers are starting to fish and coding unhappy employees as quiet quitters.
   Employees may not go the extra mile for many reasons including a toxic work environment. However instead of acknowledging the organizations issues they will label employees as quiet quitters. I feel employees putting their mental health and well-being first is starting to be a threat to organizations, so they're next move is to label everything quiet quitting.
   Organizations quiet fire constantly and cause employees way more stress.

   https://www-insider-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.insider.com/quiet-quitting-black-workers-employees-of-color-2022-9?amp

9. AnonymousOctober 5,2022 at 2:18PM UTC

   People have done this for a long time. IMO it's just another name for being checked out or coasting on a team.

10. JoanOctober 7,2022 at 3:30PM UTC

    I have firm work/life boundaries. I don't coast. I'm not checked out. But I will not sacrifice my life for a company that wouldn't hesitate to fire me and let me lose my home and starve.

11. Paula Manczuk-HannayOctober 11,2022 at 1:26PM UTC

    I agree with you. This is not coasting. It’s establishing boundaries.

12. AnonymousOctober 5,2022 at 8:46PM UTC

    I have many thoughts! LOL

    I used to be on a team where the manager gave everyone the same raise no matter what. Why work harder if you're getting the same raise as the person next to you that isn't going the extra mile. It was poor management.

    However, I have also worked somewhere that was "pay for performance" though "performance" also meant working 60+ hours a week. No thank you! I do my job and do it well. I work my required hours (definitely extra time if needed for a project) and go home to be with my family at the end of my shift.

    I think some people that have busted their butt for a company have not been recognized and are tired of it.

13. Cindy GrossOctober 6,2022 at 3:45AM UTC
    1. Some employees aren't letting companies accrue all the benefits of their (our!) work, energy, and time any more.
    2. Most people have ups and downs in their careers - periods where we coast a bit before picking up another challenge. It's completely reasonable and expected that more folks than normal are in the coasting phase due to COVID.
    3. Remote work has managers paying attention differently, using different measures of their employees, and facing pressure from their own managers. So they're calling it something new to explain it in a way that works for them.
14. JJOctober 6,2022 at 5:16AM UTC

    It’s not new. Not everyone cares to be a rockstar. Blood, sweat and tears for a corporation that would lay you off without a thought is no longer worth it. Bosses/people are getting more toxic and hiding out seems like the easiest way to get by. Companies need to do better.

15. AnonymousOctober 6,2022 at 2:35PM UTC

    I personally think “quiet quitting” is a label used by management. Workers are burned out and it’s treated like a badge of honor. I have seen younger people at my work already experiencing health issues from the stress. There is no loyalty from companies, therefore workers need to stop taking on extra work, volunteering for stuff, joining committees and attending every single company event. And for what? Management already has their favorites, so why go above and beyond for no pay? Clock in, do your job, and clock out. Maybe attend one or two company events. Have a life outside of work. Health comes first.

16. AnonymousOctober 6,2022 at 3:24PM UTC

    I’d worry more about the retaliatory movement by employers who can’t deal with quiet quitting: quiet firing. Pushing employees out. I went to the union to file a grievance and my boss couldn’t accept it. So now she’s trying to push me out. I have another job I’m staring in a little over a week. Glad there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

17. Orlagh CostelloOctober 7,2022 at 12:41PM UTC

    Quiet quitting sounds to me very similar to doing the job you're hired to do - that's not quitting...

18. Christi LopezOctober 7,2022 at 12:48PM UTC

    I'm so annoyed by the term "quiet quitting." It's not quitting. It's doing your job while maintaining a healthy life/work balance. There's a generational gap between those of us 50 and above that were trained to devote our entire being to our jobs and the younger generations who have a healthier understanding of what work should be. As an almost 50yo, I appreciate this new trend of having a life outside of work, and not devoting every waking second to your employer. I still struggle with not checking my email at least once on my days off, but I'm getting there. My life does not revolve around my job and am so much happier for it.

19. Sara TalcottOctober 7,2022 at 2:18PM UTC

    Agree. I LOVE seeing younger professionals (I'm 46) push back against the crap we had to put up with.

20. Valerie RiegerOctober 7,2022 at 12:50PM UTC

    I don't like the term. I'd rather call it what it is - employees doing the jobs they are paid to do. I've never thought it fair to expect employees to do more than their jobs or to penalize them if they don't.

21. Kate EovinoOctober 7,2022 at 12:51PM UTC

    Hate the label, support the idea.

    "Quiet Quitting" and the discussion around it always seems so Management/Company centered. Companies demand their employees work until they are sick but when the employees say No, they get these ridiculous labels applied to them.
    We need to reframe the discussion to highlight that these employees are still doing what they were hired for, still working the required hours, they are just finally setting boundaries around what is appropriate for hours, stress, etc. Just because you are refusing to work 60 hours does not mean you are a poor employee. It means you value balance and refuse to be exploited.

22. AnonymousOctober 7,2022 at 4:20PM UTC

    Totally agree! I think the label is negative and makes it sound like people are slacking off as opposed to setting boundaries. I really don’t understand why this label was created and this “movement” has taken off. Setting boundaries in all aspects of life is not a new thing. Some people are better at setting boundaries than others. Obviously, the pandemic caused a lot of people to realize they needed to set more boundaries and now employers are crying that they aren’t getting all this free extra work.

23. Brenda CrawshawOctober 7,2022 at 12:55PM UTC

    If people are using what I find to be a pejorative term for what is people doing what they were hired to do, I'd love to find a term for what emploYERS do to emploYEES when they decide to downsize or "move in a different direction".

    Perhaps "Deliberate Detachment" or "Ambush Abbreviation" or "Selfish Sacking"? Not enough coffee yet to power the internal thesaurus but this phrase pisses me off......

24. Sara TalcottOctober 7,2022 at 2:17PM UTC

    Love this! How about "Friendly Firing" or "Smilingly S***canned?"

25. Shelby COctober 7,2022 at 1:00PM UTC

    I think it is what my generation calls work-life balance and setting healthy boundaries. With that stated, I don't believe it should be used as an excuse for mediocrity; however, we are not slaves to our employers - we are their employees who deserve to be fairly compensated for our time.

    The pro's are that it helps to prevent 'quiet promoting' and 'quiet fleecing'. The danger is that it can place you in the crosshairs of 'quiet firing' or being laid-off.

26. Cynthia Armistead NewmanOctober 7,2022 at 1:03PM UTC

    The whole "quiet quitting" conversation is propaganda to push back against people who are setting boundaries and establishing a healthy work/life balance.

27. AnonymousOctober 7,2022 at 1:23PM UTC

    After the pandemic started I began coming in later to work because I wasn’t getting proper lunch breaks and I was salaried and could also never leave on time if there was a customer there or on the phone at the end of the day. Now that I’m trying to get out of a noncompete agreement I’ve discovered that I shouldn’t have been on salary and if I had not changed my own schedule I could be suing for back pay & unpaid overtime as well as to get out of the noncompete. Unfortunately they only let you go back three years. (I hate when I learn things the hard way.)

28. Leader135412October 7,2022 at 1:25PM UTC

    Considering companies have been abolishing positions and delegating the work to remaining employees, without pay raise. It's about time people push back. Think about an entire salary and health care that they dont have to pay. And by spreading the work around they are getting away with it. So just do your job description, go home when your supposed to and dont answer emails or phone calls till the next day. Boundaries are a good thing, they will just have to walk around them instead of all over us.

29. CosmosMomOctober 7,2022 at 1:34PM UTC

    I wish I started doing this sooner. It took me until my mid 40s to realize doing all the extra didn’t get me ahead, promoted, or pay raises. All it did was give me more of other people’s work. I love that people are taking back their lives and setting boundaries.

30. Sara TalcottOctober 7,2022 at 2:16PM UTC

    Same. You can kill yourself and prioritize work over everything else in your life, and you're still disposable.

31. AnonymousOctober 7,2022 at 1:45PM UTC

    I don’t think this is new, someone just gave it a new catch phrase. There are plenty of individuals who have always had boundaries around the balance between work and life. It’s just a bigger conversation because the ways we work have changed over the last few decades through technology.

32. Sara TalcottOctober 7,2022 at 2:15PM UTC

    I see it as a healthy boundary setting change. For several generations employers have been exploiting workers. I have experienced this in "unskilled" jobs and as a VP of a national food brand both. Salaried workers really get the shaft in terms of putting in way more hours than they should on a very regular basis -- the old "Other duties as assigned" BS on job descriptions. Our productivity has skyrocketed with tech and innnovation, and yet there's more work than ever.

33. AnonymousOctober 7,2022 at 6:41PM UTC

    I think you are absolutely right. Workers have spent so much time just trying to keep a job that often asked more than it should. For instance, my company has busy cycles where we have mandatory overtime. I did what I was required to do which was MONTHS of OT. Fine, you have no life outside of work but I have no problem doing what I have to when we are busy. Imagine my surprise when my review came around and I was cited as not VOLUNTEERING for more OT. Are you kidding? Work is what we do for money to pay bills and live but it's not our life. We are not WAGE SLAVES. I think this is a healthy reset that my generation never thought of.

34. surfnwriteOctober 11,2022 at 11:16PM UTC

    Were you to be paid for the extra hours, or was it salaried and unpaid?

35. AnonymousOctober 7,2022 at 2:22PM UTC

    I think it took a pandemic for me to realize I was spending more emotional energy making sure all the aspects/needs of my work was getting met rather than my family/friend group's needs. That was a messed up priority list. It was time to hit the 'reset' button.

36. JYJOctober 8,2022 at 12:12AM UTC

    Setting healthy boundaries is one thing. I think that's long overdue in this society. However, "quiet quitting" can describe thousands of people I've worked with that just collect the paycheck and were never good nor intended to be good at their jobs. If you're a slacker and skater, you're not quiet quitting. You're just an a-hole.

37. Clydene HorriganOctober 8,2022 at 12:44AM UTC

    I’ve talked with both my children about this because I wanted their opinion. They are 20 and 29. First, I had to explain the concept because my younger one had heard of it but wasn’t quite sure what it was. She thought that doing what it says your job is in the hours contracted was a good thing. I then asked what she thought if a person was milking it and not pulling their weight. She thought that was bad. I was proud of her reasoning process.

38. AnonymousOctober 8,2022 at 11:50AM UTC

    I prefer the old union phrase "work to rule". I will do the job I was hired to do at 100% effort.

    You want more, pay me.

39. surfnwriteOctober 11,2022 at 11:14PM UTC

    I object to the term "quiet quitting," as I am not quitting; I am doing what I am paid to do. For my entire working life, I have been told there is an expectation to "go above and beyond," and for what?? That mindset is nothing more than exploitation of the worker, and I'm glad people are finally seeing the light.