“Quiet Quitting” is a term that has become quite common in the masses over the past few years. Ever since the global pandemic hit, people have been depressed.
The repercussions of the uncertainty that the pandemic caused exist even now, which is why so many people-especially Gen-Z- are opting for jobs where they feel more fulfilled. Quiet quitting is a trend that has been heavily popularized by social media and TikTok, which involves an employee doing the bare minimum at their job so that they can reap the benefit.
What is Quiet Quitting?
Quiet quitting doesn’t involve you quitting your job at all. However, it is a kind of quitting as you’re no longer motivated to be good at your job.
When an employer hires you, they are not only hiring you to do work. They are also hiring you to take the initiative and develop ways to perform better at the job.
Quiet quitting means that you no longer subscribe to the hustle culture, and you’re expanding your definition of a work-life balance. In a way, quiet quitting is one of the most incredible things to have come out of the pandemic, and Gen-Z has eaten it up.
Who Coined the Term?
Even though Gen-Z has undoubtedly popularized the term, they weren’t the ones who came up with it. Gen-X-er Bryan Creely from Nashville, Tennessee, first used the term to describe how employees give up on their job after a while to regain control in a toxic work and hustle culture.
Creely had been laid off from his job as a recruiting manager during the pandemic in 2020, and he used this time to start posting advice on getting jobs to TikTok. Then in March of 2022, Creely made a video about the toxic work culture that emphasized work to get through the day. He was the first person to have mentioned the term “quiet quitting.”
How Does it Work?
Quiet Quitting started as a social media trend and garnered a lot of attention from that stream, with over 17 million people using the hashtag to relate their experiences. Once famous economists also started to review the term and its tangibility. In September of 2022, Harvard Business Review did a piece on the effects of quiet quitting.
It mentioned how quiet quitters essentially did what was mentioned in their job description. It meant they no longer participated in civil acts like staying later than the boss, arriving earlier in the morning, or sitting in on meetings where they weren’t required.
Effects of Quiet Quitting
Many have accepted quietly quitting as a phenomenon they must accept due to limited labor. However, other employers have responded to quiet quitting using quiet firing, which essentially involves making employees so frustrated that they end up quitting.
Why is it Happening?
It’s happening because people are finally unionizing due to social media and recognizing their burnout. Quiet quitting is a way to cope with burnout after the pandemic where the world is headed. We live in the age of information, which manifests in anxiety and depression for all parties involved.
Quiet quitting existed long before Bryan Creely mentioned it in his TikTok, but now that many are aware of it, there’s likely to be a more significant impact. Employers must make their companies much more employee-friendly to retain employees and grow their businesses.
