Quiet Quitting - The Latest Work-Life Balance Trend

Going above and beyond to not go above and beyond

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It's unlikely that you missed it if you follow the news in some capacity. There are stories seemingly popping up left, right, and center regarding the newest craze to take TikTok by storm. Luckily for me, it's not another Tide Pod Challenge or something... no, this is more up my alley. Posted to the social media site by the user "@zkchillin" and using the simple yet effective hashtag "#workreform", to say the video he posted has gained attention is an understatement. In a nutshell, it explains in no more than 17 seconds the concept of Quiet Quitting, the idea that you're worth is not defined by your production, and that you should cast aside your dedication to Hustle Culture. One only needs to look through the comment section of the video to see for themselves how such a simple idea has resonated with the masses (or at least the ones that are engaging on the post).

The video and the response that followed raise a powerful question... how much of an impact can one video have on an industrial scale? Can one person making one TikTok video really wield the power to topple an empire? One only has to look at the mass outpouring of every outlet under the sun giving their input (heck, I'm no different) to come to the conclusion that at the very least they can have a lasting impact if pressure is sustained.

Can we really say that a video of this sort going viral wasn't going to set off a powder keg of reaction though? We know that companies respond when money is on the line, and maintaining the status quo of the workplace presents the least risk to that prospect. So yes, when a video gains enough traction to present a (albeit small in the grand scheme of things) disruptive force, you see all manner of back and forth come out. We have people saying this has been around for a long while, we have others saying it's a possible source for change, and we have others still claiming it's all a waste of time. Like it or not, all the attention is making it grow and become the new "Thing", and it's a concept that needs to be taken seriously in today's workplace whether companies want to accept it or not.

But what constitutes Quiet Quitting? How does Quiet Quitting reflect the current state of people's feelings around the workplace? And what is the effect this will have down the road across the working world?

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Not Quite Quitting

Work life balance is a hot button issue that has come to the forefront in recent years. It's easy to say that people attempting to achieve a work life balance for a long time, but it was only recently that a global pandemic flipped the world upside down and forced companies to adapt with little to no warning. Work from home policies became the new thing, though for many that wasn't necessarily by choice.

We are so conditioned to differentiating our work from the rest of our lives that this move to home caused a lot of self reflection. Many realized that work life balance could be more of... well... a balance. It's part of the reason why so many companies had to basically force their employees back to the office or commit to a hybrid system. Therein lies the core message behind zkchillin's TikTok video... Life is so much more than working, producing, or being a number on a report somewhere.

The core tenants that make up Quiet Quitting stay true to this message. Let's cover off this one really quick:

Quiet Quitting is not actually quitting your job.

It's not. As much as working individuals these days want to abandon their daily grinds and go live off the land somewhere with postcard-like beauty only a step away (I don't blame them), it's not a great prospect when it comes to affording stuff. Work does kind of pay for things like food, electricity, and Netflix. Quiet Quitting is more subtle than that. Here's the rundown of it as basic as I can manage:

You will do your job exactly as it is written

You will do ONLY what is written and nothing more

Some may look at that and think "Yeah, that's your job". It's more than that though. It's a concentrated effort to do ONLY that. No staying late to cover, no going outside of your duties to be helpful, no going above and beyond to innovate. You are being paid to do something and you are doing exactly that something. It channels a sort of malicious compliance in it's execution, but no rules are really broken here. It's an attitude towards work geared to prioritize the life half of the work life balance. The reason it's so jarring is that it flies in the face of all the advice that has been passed down for decades in that one needs to "grind" to achieve success. That's where the controversy comes from.

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Discontent given a name

Take all that stuff I said above about the pandemic, the work from home policies, and the forced return to office mandates. Roll in a good dose of inflation, and add on top the fact that wages are generally not keeping up with that inflation. What do we end up with? We have job hopping. We have morale issues. We have people concerned that they will be replaced by machines for a quick profit. We have a workforce that is not happy with the current state of affairs and looking for somewhere to place their energy.

It can be easy to dismiss the concerns as a vocal minority doing vocal minority things, but the issues in the spotlight impact more people than ever before. It especially impacts the younger generation (which just so happens to be the ones that understand how to get a message to go viral). Really though, the issues in the spotlight impact almost anyone who holds a job to some capacity.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not discounting that there are good companies and businesses out there. There are some fantastic places in the business world that have cultivated a strong sense of identity, morale, and camaraderie. There are many that have not. In a year where many have had to turn to second (or third) jobs to pay bills or rely on side hustles to add a little extra income to their bank account, it's not uncommon to find a person working 6+ days a week and 50+ hours in that week. I was that person for a short while. I was bloody exhausted. Take that and amplify it across millions of people and this is the effect that you get.

Long story short, people are burning out. They want a work life balance but do not have the means or opportunity to achieve it. The choices they are left with are two fold: Fully commit or commit just enough to not get fired. Increasingly, people are feeling that companies are doing the bare minimum for them, so that's the response they're kicking right back.

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Here to stay?

Like all viral videos, this one is likely destined to fade into internet history in the coming weeks. The question is whether the message of the video continues to spread and grow. Considering that many workplaces still have a hybrid work model (or a full WFH model) in place, it's not a forgone conclusion that we'll see the last of it soon. What will be interesting to see is the impact this attitude has on the workplace scene.

Obviously, the longer an idea sticks around and the more people subscribe to it, the more industries will need to respond.

On The Low End

Quiet Quitting has become exposed enough that it will have some form of impact, though it may not be revolutionary at the end of the day. There is a chance that many industries simply see the attitude fizzle out. Quiet Quitting is, after all, just a name given to a way of doing something.

We cannot put the genie back in the bottle though, and there will be industries that will need to respond in at least a minor way before this all passes. Any companies with large numbers of employees working at or near minimum wage will likely see the biggest impact as employees in this situation are more likely to identify with the core message behind Quiet Quitting. The response will vary from company to company, but it will ultimately need to address the fact that employees don't want to go above and beyond for a business they feel won't do the same for them. Does that mean increased support? Increased pay? How long until these businesses start feeling the effects if they don't respond? The response may not be large, but it needs to at least be there.

On The High End

What if this is the start of something big? What would happen if suddenly all the employed people of the working world cast aside their willingness to put in extra hours off the clock or outside of their normal duties and fall exactly in line with what they are expected to do? For both salary and hourly positions, many companies would simply find themselves understaffed almost overnight. People like to feel as if they're helping, and they often will do things outside of the norm to help the members of their team. This is usually not a luxury extended to the company itself. Why? Because the coworker you fall on the sword for has a face and a name. They are a person. You can relate to that person.

If a team of people suddenly up and stuck only to their duties, there would be schedule and timeline issues, unassigned duties, and likely minimal dedicated training (does your place of work have a person who's only job is training?). It would mean that a return to status quo would only be possible through mass contract renegotiations or mass hiring, and considering the number of places that seem to be bleeding employees recently and the hours that renegotiations would take, it's unlikely that either option would happen smoothly.

I've covered off two extreme ends of what could happen. Realistically, we can expect that employers will need to examine their relationships with employees and understand that they are hiring a generation of workers that want balance. This means that expectations should be set before any signing happens, and that they need to be aware of the long term as well as the day to day needs of the business. That being said, I would also argue these types of discussions should already be taking place as a good business practice.

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Sign of the times

The next generation of people entering the workforce are not the same as the ones from decades before. The attitude towards work is changing, and it's clear from the response that both the video and the concept behind Quiet Quitting that it's more than just a few people that feel this way. The new generation is more connected than any that came before it thanks to technology, and it's that much easier to communicate a unifying goal as a result. This all comes at a time when unionization is a massive talking point and a living wage is ever-increasingly hard to achieve.

I can't look into the future and say what the long term effects will be regarding the Quiet Quitting movement. What I can say is that it's another bullet point on a growing list of movements and concerns that seems to be growing by the day. Businesses can do what they wish to respond, but the outcome will ultimately depend on how those reactions are perceived by the new generation of workers and whether those workers accept the response as being "enough". Without some form of change, these types of videos will continue to go viral and resonate. The masses seem to be speaking... now we wait to see if anyone answers.

~IR

As a nod of recognition to the original video that spawned this concept, this article will be released with the matching "#workreform" attached to it.

Are you someone who has begun Quiet Quitting? What changes do you think need to happen to respond to Quiet Quitting? Or maybe you just have a comment to add? Check out the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn page and let everyone know. Don't forget to follow or like the page for updates! And share this article if you feel others should give it a read!

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