Quiet quitting

[slant]

Quiet quitting is essentially going to work, collecting a paycheck, and performing the minimum duties of your job. Common techniques include being late to your job and leaving early, taking excessively long lunches and breaks, playing on your phone during work instead of whatever you are being paid to do.

Is it ethical? Do you do it? What do you think about it?

My biased question: isn't it more ethical to QUIT and find a job that you want to work than to take somebody's money and refuse to work? And if there isn't a job that you want to have.... Maybe introspect about why you think you are above working.

To clarify, I think a lot of people do these things when they are suffering from depression or stress in their life. This is not what I'm talking about. Quiet quitting is not being overwhelmed by your life and having a hard time keeping up at your job. It is choosing not to do your job.

 

[Wyote]

Glad we've finally come up with a term for 80% of the workforce

 

[slant]

Glad we've finally come up with a term for 80% of the workforce

If you're not getting paid what you think you want to be paid, then there is no sense in having pride in your work? How do people still have good self esteem and think this way? I would feel badly about myself for not putting in my best effort. And if I was upset by the amount I was being paid I would make a plan to try to earn more. It just seems like lack of personal responsibility. YOU (generic you) agreed to be paid that amount to do that job. You made an agreement. You're not a victim.

 

[Wyote]

YOU (generic you) agreed to be paid that amount to do that job. You made an agreement. You're not a victim.

The point is, the high effort and low pay are no longer enough to sustain people's happiness and/or well being.
People want more, always. I'm not claiming anything is right as far as how to remedy this.
It's where we are at. People are unhappy for a lot of different reasons.
Mainly the source of this is burnout.
Humans are not meant to work so hard and have over the years been made to work at a level of
complexity and difficulty that is like nothing we've ever experienced as a species.
We are all victims to the system. Not recognizing that is a mistake.

 

[slant]

The point is, the high effort and low pay are no longer enough to sustain people's happiness and/or well being.
People want more, always. I'm not claiming anything is right as far as how to remedy this.
It's where we are at. People are unhappy for a lot of different reasons.
Mainly the source of this is burnout.
Humans are not meant to work so hard and have over the years been made to work at a level of
complexity and difficulty that is like nothing we've ever experienced as a species.
We are all victims to the system. Not recognizing that is a mistake.

I don't know...I challenge the idea that "humans aren't meant to work so hard". I think that surviving every day in the wild, hunting for food, not having modern medicine, not having electricity and heating, that was what humans evolved to survive and all of this work is wayyy easier. This is a strange idea that things HAVE TO become easier and easier. It's not how life actually works. Of course our emotions want things to be easier. doesn't mean we are "deserving" of easier.

 

[Wyote]

all of this work is wayyy easier

In some sense I agree, but it's the complexity and the weight/fear of failure that is different

It's not how life actually works. Of course our emotions want things to be easier. doesn't mean we are "deserving" of easier.

Fair points.
I'm not really arguing for or against anything here.
This is just one angle that I see people making an argument for.
I think people want a more fair system or at least better clarity on how fair the system really is (I am not asserting that it is/isn't fair).

 

[slant]

I guess there are less biased ways to frame this discussion. I can't help that I'm definitely against quiet quitting, but we can talk about other aspects of quiet quitting or the why behind it.

I have to admit to personally doing this years ago when I didn't know what it was- but I make a distinction that it was really about my mental health. My mental health was not good so I felt that I didn't need to perform at work and I felt trapped in my job.

I'm wondering how many people who are basically giving up at work are doing so because they don't have a plan out or don't think they can be empowered enough to change their circumstances. It seems like an idea based out of hopelessness and inaction and I think that's what is bothering me so much.

But it is definitely understandable that if you feel hopeless or trapped, giving up may seem to be your only option.

 

[aeon]

Quiet quitting is a bullshit term from the overlords and their media lackeys.

Quiet quitting is essentially going to work, collecting a paycheck, and performing the minimum duties of your job. Common techniques include being late to your job and leaving early, taking excessively long lunches and breaks, playing on your phone during work instead of whatever you are being paid to do.

I don’t know where you got this, but I have never seen quiet quitting described this way. This has been discussed extensively on Reddit, and elsewhere as linked. Quiet quitting is going to a job and doing what you have been hired to do, as described in the description of your job—no more, and no less, and being paid for it.

The only “technique” is honoring your agreement to the letter, and being paid for it.

edit: They use the pejorative term Quiet Quitting because for decades employers have enjoyed the ease with which wage theft and labor abuses are realized in an environment of neutered labor unions.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Roses In The Vineyard]

Well this isn't anything new to be honest and is partly a response to burnout, what doesn't help is that with some personality types couple to some still fairly common mindsets the whole work culture becomes horribly exhausting and toxic even though the work itself isn't an issue. One of the biggest contributors hands down has to be the sociopathy and narcissism often experienced when dealing with management never mind the usual office politics leading to massive disillusionment so naturally people give up without going so far as to quitting outright while some hang on for a little longer in hopes of getting fired to collect unemployment. The more machiavellian the overall social environment is the more the incentive for normal people to either downsize their efforts to just minimum or look for some form of escape.

 

[Wyote]

I don’t know where you got this, but I have never seen quiet quitting described this way. This has been discussed extensively on Reddit, and elsewhere as linked. Quiet quitting is going to a job and doing what you have been hired to do, as described in the description of your job—no more, and no less, and being paid for it.

Part of the problem is the creation of the term itself becomes a trap.
It's a kind of doublespeak in order to get people to feel guilty about not doing more than what is asked of them.
Which is absurd. People need boundaries and to know that doing their job according to the job description will be enough.
Adding an extra layer of fear helps no one.

 

[aeon]

Part of the problem is the creation of the term itself becomes a trap.
It's a kind of doublespeak in order to get people to feel guilty about not doing more than what is asked of them.
Which is absurd. People need boundaries and to know that doing their job according to the job description will be enough.
Adding an extra layer of fear helps no one.

Exactly. When I read the opening post, I jokingly thought “wow, they got to her!”

Employment is doing what you have agreed to do, for an agreed-upon wage. If and when you are asked or told to do more, absent a reasonable increase of compensation, your reasonable response should be to refuse the request.

“Quiet quitting” is owner-class propaganda that hits the sweet-spot for mild outrage social media reposts. As if fair work for fair pay is some kind of unsavory moral transgression.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Asa]

Quiet quitting is just "work to rule".

 

[aeon]

Quiet quitting is just "work to rule".

Bingo. End of thread, lol.

Nods,
Ian

 

[Krypton]

As with most internet words, I suspect a lot of people who "quiet quit" have a stronger definition than the one it started with.

Just doing your job and no more is your right, obviously, though I'd push back on the idea that this necessarily is the result of management pushing stuff on the workers. I think it's probably more about people wanting promotions and doing stuff to "earn" it or really altruistic professions like doctors where deciding that your hours are up could mean someone dies.

If you're just browsing your phone I dunno if you should be paid for those hours unless your output during the other hours was greater than accounted for.

I could buy profit-sharing stuff as a solution but there are downsides in the form of increased pressure to perform.

 

[slant]

Quiet quitting is a bullshit term from the overlords and their media lackeys.



I don’t know where you got this, but I have never seen quiet quitting described this way. This has been discussed extensively on Reddit, and elsewhere as linked. Quiet quitting is going to a job and doing what you have been hired to do, as described in the description of your job—no more, and no less, and being paid for it.

The only “technique” is honoring your agreement to the letter, and being paid for it.

edit: They use the pejorative term Quiet Quitting because for decades employers have enjoyed the ease with which wage theft and labor abuses are realized in an environment of neutered labor unions.

Cheers,
Ian

And to be fair if we are defining it this way I'm fine with it- but I would call it "working, not trying to get promoted" not quiet quitting. I will acknowledge there seems to be a different way this term is used, so that makes the conversation more confusing. I'm thinking about it more in the way it is used in the antiwork subreddit movement

 

[slant]

Exactly. When I read the opening post, I jokingly thought “wow, they got to her!”

Employment is doing what you have agreed to do, for an agreed-upon wage. If and when you are asked or told to do more, absent a reasonable increase of compensation, your reasonable response should be to refuse the request.

“Quiet quitting” is owner-class propaganda that hits the sweet-spot for mild outrage social media reposts. As if fair work for fair pay is some kind of unsavory moral transgression.

Cheers,
Ian

I enjoy working and doing my best and I would to my best even if I was an actual indentured servant. I would not feel life was worth living if I did not do my best and work with integrity . This was the way I have always been.

 

[slant]

Quiet quitting is just "work to rule".

This is helpful in clarifying the multiple interpretations of this term, thank you

 

[aeon]

...if we are defining it this way I'm fine with it- but I would call it "working, not trying to get promoted" not quiet quitting.

Well, my life experience and the zeitgeist would suggest working harder for an employer only benefits the employer. If you want a promotion, in terms of responsibilities, and/or compensation, you leave and find a new employer.

I'm thinking about it more in the way it is used in the antiwork subreddit movement

Well, they are a bunch of nutbags, and to be fair, I’m one of them—and through disability, I’m living the dream! (sarcasm, it is absolutely not worth the tradeoff)

I enjoy working and doing my best and I would to my best even if I was an actual indentured servant. I would not feel life was worth living if I did not do my best and work with integrity . This was the way I have always been.

I appreciate that, and in some regards I am no different. That said, I learned fairly early on that doing my best often got me in trouble with coworkers, and in time, management. I found it far better to ascertain the expectation and the engagement that provided the best lubricity, social and otherwise. I saved my best for environments where it would be appreciated and rewarded, and for personal endeavors.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[slant]

Well, my life experience and the zeitgeist would suggest working harder for an employer only benefits the employer. If you want a promotion, in terms of responsibilities, and/or compensation, you leave and find a new employer.



Well, they are a bunch of nutbags, and to be fair, I’m one of them—and through disability, I’m living the dream! (sarcasm, it is absolutely not worth the tradeoff)



I appreciate that, and in some regards I am no different. That said, I learned fairly early on that doing my best often got me in trouble with coworkers, and in time, management. I found it far better to ascertain the expectation and the engagement that provided the best lubricity, social and otherwise. I saved my best for environments where it would be appreciated and rewarded, and for personal endeavors.

Cheers,
Ian

Hmmm, that's interesting for you to bring up the perspective of having a disability. That's another element to me that really bugs me is that a lot of these antiwork folk are fully capable of work and think they shouldn't have to when there are people who have more difficulty working through no fault of their own.

 

[Sidis Coruscatis]

People have been quiet quitting for decades. This is like the stereotypical 9 to 5 worker who whines on Facebook every Monday morning about going to work again. Generally, it's not the work they hate, but their lives, because they're often vice-ridden and lack any organizational skills or actionable goals. These are the kinds of people who will come up with this sort of passive-aggressive attitude and be stuck in eternal mediocrity.

If you want equal pay for equal effort, you have to be able to demand it. Then the pressure is on the employer not to lose a highly productive worker. If they're really obstinate, you can quit and keep your experience to aid in your transition. The only reason to remain and do less work is if you're using the time you save on developing a new skill set that you can then leverage. But what usually happens is that they go watch Netflix and complain on social media.