Going to work every day feels like a mammoth task these days. Moreover, after adapting to work-from-home culture thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting the office every day now feels like a lot of effort and work. For many, job satisfaction is now just a myth. No amount of amenities drive employees to perform well or encourages them to go a little bit out of their way to get their job done. More and more employees today are okay with not delivering the best result at their workplace. Why? Employees are choosing quiet quitting over every reward there is to accept.
What is Quiet Quitting?
It is nothing like the term goes. Quite quitting is not quiet as every other employee seems to be adopting it. It also does not involve one quitting a job. Quiet quitting is a choice of an employee to do just what is defined and falls under his job description. It involves refusing to go beyond and out of the way of your job/duty. Quiet quitting is what an employee does what his job requires them to do, nothing more or less than that.
While this trend has been prevailing in the corporate and service sectors for some time, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered it further.
Why has there been a rise in Quiet Quitting?
The pandemic forced everyone to sit at home for months at a stretch. This made employees realise the importance of work-life balance. They realised they were missing out on their personal lives due to their over-dedicated attention to work.
Further, unlike the times when the 9-5 work culture was considered ideal and compensated employees when they worked overtime, the present work culture became too toxic. Employees were expected to work overtime with no compensation for the same. Besides, this did not necessarily provide them security from getting fired. This made employees globally realise that their respective organisations hardly cared about them and their well-being and were more concerned about their profit margins.
Besides, the advent of technology and mainly the internet expected the employees to be active even way after their work hours. Instant responses were expected from them. This kept the employees glued to their phones and laptops often incessantly replying to emails and updating reports.
Work took priority over everything else to such an extent that employees began feeling apologetic of taking breaks or vacations; something which is much needed for a human mind to refresh and energise. Soon, burnout became common, affecting the employees’ productivity and thus quality of work.
These are some of the prominent factors that have led to employees adopting the trend of quiet quitting.
Now the important question is, is Quiet Quitting bad?
Well, not really. There is nothing wrong to say no to things that adversely impact your health and efficiency both physically and mentally. Employees across the world have realised this and have begun saying ‘NO’ to toxic work cultures. Quiet quitting is a conscious effort to keep your well-being and sanity intact. Building a boundary between work and personal life does not make employees less ambitious or non-achievers.
The trend has made it evident that, for employees the key motivator now striking a balance between work and personal life. Companies across the globe must realize the severity of this trend and take corrective actions to put in place a healthy work culture and environment. They must also adopt practices that improve the productivity of their employees, boosts morale and ensures their wellbeing.
