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- Social media such as TikTok are flooded with workers ”quiet quitting”
- A pandemicera phenomenon starting with ”The Great Resignation”; quiet quitting became a less drastic version of really quitting your job.
- Quiet quitting is nothing new. It is the millenial workforce’ way of setting boundaries and keeping a healthy work-life balance.
- Just as quiet quitting can empower workers, so employers are quiet firing for a whole different set of reasons.
Let’s start with the Great Resignation
Quiet quitting has been hitting millenial-internet as it follows up to the ”Great Resignation” trend. A trend that has started during the tail end of the pandemic.
As corona restrictions were lifted and businesses reopening, millenials then started quitting their jobs in droves, reaching a peak in March 2021. The phenomenon was coined as the ”Great Resignation” by professor Anthony Klotz of University College London’s School of Management.
Pandemic stimulus checks and relief funds by governments have given many people the confidence to quit their jobs without having a new one lined up. This is reflected in the statistics of people later returning to the workforce: as of late 2021 and early 2022, many people that initially quit their jobs, have been returning to the workforce.
So what’s with this new quiet quitting movement?
Quiet quitting can be seen as part of one of two major work related social media subcultures/movements that have gained momentum in recent times:
The lying flat movement gained momentum in China in early 2021 when a post on the popular chinese platform Baidu gained momentum. In the post the author shared his lessons of two years of joblessness and the stresses of contemporary life. The post picked up pace in May as more and more over-stressed, over-worked young Chinese started vocally opposing (mainly on social media) traditional views in Chinese society regarding work and demanding a more relaxed, less ambitious lifestyle.
Quiet quitting and the lay flat movement can be considerd the direct opposite of the ”hustle culture”. The hustle culture, like the laying flat movement a subculture within the millenial demographic, focuses on the entrepeneurial lifestyle. Its composed mainly out of vloggers and other social media personalities flaunting their wealth (and lucrative paid personal training courses) that have also gained momentum on social media such as TikTok.
Whereas the ”hustle culture” embraces working hard and running your own business on the side to build wealth, quiet quitters or ”flat-liers” want to put their personal growth and mental wellbeing first.
Old wine in new bottles?
If you’re anything like me, you’re reading this article and probably start thinking: ”I’ve been quiet quitting for years now!”
Quiet quitting turns out to be just the latest, and youngest working generations’, to set boundaries at work and opt for a good work-life balance.
Quiet firing
The bittersweet side of quiet quitting; quiet firing.
Trying to get employees to quiet without firing them can have various reasons, a main one can be severance pay.
To avoid having to pay a severance, employers can quiet fire their employees by:
- Reducing hours
- Increasing workload
- Don’t give raises
- Micromanaging
What are your experiences with quiet quitting and quiet firing?
Have you recently decided to ”act your wage” and strictly stick to your job description, or have you’ve been on the bitter end of the deal and do you feel you’re being quiet fired? Share your experiences in the comments below and give your take on the quiet quitting movement!
