Quiet Quitting- Pt. 1

Quiet Quitting  

There is a Tik Tok viral trend called quiet quitting. Quite quitting is employees not giving their all and reclaiming their time.  I have thoughts. 

There is a thing called “retired in place.” It happens when someone is dead-ended in their role, no longer challenged and coasting into retirement. It’s not a great thing because the person is blocking someone who might have new ideas and want to do the work. It also is not an exciting way to spend a day.

This is worse. 

Most of the quiet quitters are twenty and thirty somethings who have had enough.  No balance, no boundaries, no respect. I get it; we’ve been dealing with a global pandemic, supply chain issues, demanding and irate customers, and inflationary pressures.

It’s a lot. 

If you are thinking about quiet quitting, consider this:

You are probably going to work for decades longer. 

You might win the lottery or find that passive income unicorn, but chances are greater that you won’t. Can you be successful quiet quitting your way to retirement. Doubtful. So what would you rather be doing (that someone will pay you for)?

If you dread going to work on Monday morning, ask yourself why?

Is it the work, the people, the management, the place, or some combination of these?  What can you change? What can’t you change?  Weigh your options.

What about actually quitting? 

If you are miserable, it may not get much better if you slow down but stay. A toxic work environment is still a toxic work environment even if it is for 40 hours per week rather than 60.  What is the impact on your wellbeing from staying?

Or loudly staying?

Can you ask for what you need?  A colleague of mine is considering returning to a company where the norm is 24-7 responsiveness, always on call. When she was there previously, she took vacations where she could not be reached. But they want her back, salary increase, title change.  She asked for her weekends, and they said yes. 

Employers know something is happening; but they may not know exactly what to do about it. Unless you tell them.

Evaluate your overall wellbeing.

There are five components to wellbeing – career, social, financial, physical, community. These elements are interrelated and a challenge in one area can impact the others. We all suffered during the pandemic – in more than one area. What does your balance look like now? Is it all about career or is there more going on? 

A change is coming in the way we work. Quiet quitting is a passive way to manage the change. And it probably won’t make things better for anyone. Or you can try to shape the change. 

Next, quiet quitting advice for managers.