In the past month, all I have been hearing both on social media and traditional media is Quiet Quitting. What is exactly quiet quitting? According to Wikipedia, "Quiet quitting is an application of work-to-rule, in which employees work within defined work hours and engage solely in activities within those hours. The philosophy of quiet quitting, despite the name, is not necessarily connected to quitting a job outright, but rather doing exactly what the job requires". In more simplistic terms, quiet quitting is basically just doing what is required from you at a specific job and not going over and beyond to accommodate management.
Before sharing my take on the subject, I found this report from PBS which I think explains quiet quitting well. Check it out:
What we call "Quiet Quitting" or just doing my job is not new. In many unionized environments, especially in a corporation, this type of behavior has been around for years. Everyone has a defined role and that is what the employee is expected to do. I found this type of mentality in every unionized company I worked for. I could understand people establishing boundaries in the private sector. I worked in the private sector (retail) most of my career and in that corporate environment, being available 24/7 it is part of the work culture. I was fortunate to always negotiate to be compensated with time owed rather than money. Work more when it is busy, and take time off when it slows down. I do acknowledge that many companies do not function that way, it is just simply expected of you.
COVID-19 made people realize that by working less, there is more time for themselves and their family. Avoiding two hours of traffic on a daily basis will add up to much more free time. In my opinion, people adopted the quiet quitting mentality because they do not want to go back to the office full time. I realized during the pandemic that I was not miserable working from home, I actually enjoyed it. Yes you do have to be disciplined to get your work done, but I did not miss the office one bit, and I consider myself as a social person. I am sure I am not alone feeling that way.
I understand that not everyone could work from home. It is hard for a fireman to put out a fire from home, or a doctor to operate on a patient remotely. Maybe someday this will happen but the technology is not there yet. However any job that is administrative or systemic in nature could be done remotely with the current technology. In the end, some form of hybrid model will probably prevail.
In conclusion, the workplace is definitely going through a culture change. Honestly, as long as the job gets done, it does not really matter where you are. As for quiet quitting, there will always be people that will work the bare minimum, If you want to get noticed or get ahead, hard work and dedication will still be required. The ambitious people will get ahead, and those unwilling to go the extra mile, will be left behind.
Thank you for taking the time. Keep on smiling !!!!!