The Great Resignation?

[ua_guy]

I'm not sure what "quiet quitting" means ... just disappearing from work & never showing up again? Showing up but being non-productive? Some other form of leaving a job you hate or don't get paid adequately? Whatever the case, that's a factor of both changing societal norms and poor company policies....and probably a sizable share of terrible personal responsibility (but that goes back to changing societal norms). I'd argue that labeling the trend with a confusing buzzword (whatever it means) is a disservice. It hides the real issues involved, and lets both individuals & companies skate by under the premise of blaming "quiet quitting" when both sides of the problem need to take responsibility for their respective roles in creating & perpetuating the underlying issues and take action to resolve them.

"Quiet quitting" is the idea you show up for your assigned job and only do what's required to meet the requirements of the job, even doing a good job. The side I'm partial to would call this "establishing healthy boundaries" with work.

[disneysteve]

I'm not sure what "quiet quitting" means

Quiet quitting is a stupid term but it's the one that someone made up that stuck. As ua_guy said, it's about setting better boundaries between work and home life. Too many jobs have gotten to where employees are expected to be available and do work at all hours, take work home, respond to work emails after hours, etc. Quiet quitting is folks putting their foot down and saying, "If you are paying me to work until 5, I'm going to work until 5 and that's it. Messages will be answered the next day during work hours. Work that isn't done by 5 will got done the next day. From 9-5 you get me 100%. After 5, you get me 0%. That's the way it really should have been all along for most jobs but with texts and emails and laptops and such, that line has gotten pretty fuzzy over the years.

[rennigade]

It’s not that people don’t want to work. It’s that they don’t want to work at a crap job making crap wages doing something they hate.

Plenty of people work at good jobs making good money and they would rather be doing something else. Its not just people who make terrible money that are bailing from the workforce. Not to mention, money isnt a motivating factor in retaining employees. Lots of research on that and many books have been written on the subject.

[ua_guy]

Other than older people bailing from the workforce because of the sheer size of their age group, a mix of early retirements and planned retirements, the "great resignation" is a bit misleading. Employment data suggests most people who resigned are just doing something else for work now. Job openings also indicate that higher wages and better working conditions have pulled labor away from certain sectors of the economy, like low-wage service jobs.

[disneysteve]

Plenty of people work at good jobs making good money and they would rather be doing something else. Its not just people who make terrible money that are bailing from the workforce.

That's true, but it's a lot easier to walk away from a low wage job with no benefits and find a better replacement, especially in a tight labor market when employers are desperate for workers.

[disneysteve]

the "great resignation" is a bit misleading

This is a big pet peeve of mine lately. Someone comes up with a buzz word or catch phrase that catches on but it's very misleading: great resignation, quiet quitting, etc. None of them accurately describe what is going on. People who participated in the "great resignation" didn't actually leave the workforce. People who are "quiet quitting" haven't actually left their jobs.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Kork good question as always asking, "I'm not sure what "quiet quitting" means." Everyone has their own definition for it. For me my employer prohibits unauthorized overtime (OT). Authorized OT is fine but unauthorized OT gets a written warning first then progressively worse leading to termination due to a class action lawsuit where workers claimed they were made to work OT without pay. All 200 received checks based on longevity. My check was $2800. So for me quiet quitting has nothing to do with outside of normal working hours where I don't check work emails, nor answer my work cell phone, nor texts. For me quiet quitting would occur exclusively during work hours. An example that comes to my mind is take fast food places where management trains the workers to upsell such as "would you like fries with that burger or would you like to add a dessert, etc." Quiet quitting may have the worker not trying to upsell and be passive and ring up the customer with whatever they are buying and not upsell. For me personally I might take 2 coffee breaks instead of only 1 permitted. If lunch break is 30 minutes, I might take 35 minutes. Things like that I'm guessing. I know some people who never answers their phone and let it go to voice mail which might be quiet quitting. I always answer my phone and rarely let it go to voice mail. The worst people are those whose voice mail systems are full and cannot leave a voice mail. When I see them in person I'll tell them to clear their messages, gee whiz, lol. But I know they do it on purpose, another quiet quitter.

[disneysteve]

QMM nothing that you describe is what is meant by quiet quitting. That refers to people doing their jobs as they should but nothing more or extra that they aren’t being paid for. Not putting in extra time. Not taking work home with them. That sort of thing.

taking extra breaks or coming back late from lunch isn’t okay and is not what quiet quitting means.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Ok I had to go back to the drawing board and watched this video on it;

'Quiet Quitting' a viral trend leaving its impact across TikTok - YouTube

[QuarterMillionMan]

Here is a more indepth video, I will need to watch it in its entirety to get a better grasp on it.

What is Quiet quitting? & why it's prevalent in tech culture - YouTube

[disneysteve]

Ok I had to go back to the drawing board and watched this video on it;

'Quiet Quitting' a viral trend leaving its impact across TikTok - YouTube

I think that covers it nicely. It's about doing what you were hired to do, doing what is required and what you're being paid for, but setting boundaries and not letting work creep into what should be personal time. Making it clear that the company doesn't own you 24/7.

[ua_guy]

taking extra breaks or coming back late from lunch isn’t okay and is not what quiet quitting means.

I disagree If hourly, and the timecard doesn't accurately reflect lunch/breaks, then yes, I agree. If salaried, then no, I don't fully agree.

Edit: If it's something like needing to be back at work (salaried) to see a patient, or be present at a scheduled meeting, yes. If I need to get up and take a walk or pop out for an appointment which I negotiate happening between other work duties, then that is generally a salaried employee's prerogative.

I think part of "quiet quitting" is the admission that 100% engagement and productivity doesn't happen all day every single day at work. Humans are humans.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

A lot of people don't work during remote though. I have many friends who are managers hoping to fire those that barely do any work. My cousin makes her staff come in because out of 3 workers, 2 of them don't work remotely. They don't answer emails and or calls and don't do anything at home. So into the office they go to be more "productive."

[disneysteve]

A lot of people don't work during remote though. I have many friends who are managers hoping to fire those that barely do any work. My cousin makes her staff come in because out of 3 workers, 2 of them don't work remotely. They don't answer emails and or calls and don't do anything at home. So into the office they go to be more "productive."

Not everyone is cut out for remote work. It's hard to stay focused on work when you're at home especially if you have a partner or kids or pets or even just laundry and household stuff to distract you. It's easy enough for employers to keep track of remote employees to tell if the work is getting done in a timely manner. If it isn't, then requiring them to come in person is perfectly reasonable.

[disneysteve]

I disagree If hourly, and the timecard doesn't accurately reflect lunch/breaks, then yes, I agree. If salaried, then no, I don't fully agree.

Edit: If it's something like needing to be back at work (salaried) to see a patient, or be present at a scheduled meeting, yes. If I need to get up and take a walk or pop out for an appointment which I negotiate happening between other work duties, then that is generally a salaried employee's prerogative.

It certainly can vary by position and situation. At my place, the staff gets a 30-minute break. It is inappropriate for them to stay out for 35 minutes because other people are covering their work while they're gone as well as waiting for them to return so they can take their break. Only one person can be on break at a time.

On the other hand, we (the providers) technically get a 30-minute break but we can never actually take it. I mean, we can, but the work just piles up while we're on break, so we shoot ourselves in the foot if we take the break. It would just result in us having to stay later to finish the work. So we typically munch at our desks while we're working, never actually taking a break, even on a 12-hour shift.