Well, here’s something new for you. Just heard about it through social media, of course. It’s called Quiet Quitting and it’s happening at workplaces all over the country. But it’s not really about wanting to quit your job. Rather, this new trend happens when you are tired of going above and beyond at work for little-to-no recognition or reward.
So these quiet quitters are not trying to quit their jobs, they are just eager to establish better work-life boundaries by doing what’s necessary to stay employed but not breaking their backs to exceed expectations. Bottom line is these workers are doing exactly what’s in their job descriptions and absolutely nothing more. That includes leaving on time, and not checking their emails outside of office hours.
The trend is picking up steam on social media, particularly TikTok, where the #QuietQuitting hashtag has accumulated almost five million views.
According to Dr. Maria Kordowicz, an associate professor in organizational behavior at the University of Nottingham, told GQ magazine.“Our ‘work’ and our ‘life’ aren’t easily disentangled. The quality of one directly impacts our experience of the other. Quiet quitting is about a conscious effort to uphold our well-being in the way we work, rather than risk burnout through working long hours or defining ourselves simply through our work.”
On TikTok, I’ve learned the suggestions about how to Quit Quiet. Yeah, I look at TikTok, I am not a dinosaur — yet. Most of the posts suggest you close your computer as soon as your shift’s over, take your full lunch break, use all of your allowed vacation and personal days and reject extra assignments. I don’t agree with all of those. So, I never leave on time if I have more work to do. Lunch hour? What is that? I can eat cheese and crackers with Diet Coke while scrolling through my emails. I should use all my vacation time. I’m working on that. But refuse new assignments? Not a real job advancement deal.
Not surprisingly, recent survey data from Gallup found that Generation Z and Millennial workers are the biggest groups into this quiet quitting deal.
I don’t know what to tell you. I know work and life balance is important. But my work ethic is to do your job 110 percent of the time. I have no memory of what my job description says, but I just do what makes sense to keep the chamber up and running. Believe me, if I ever quit, it will not be quiet — you will hear it all over town! So now you know what quiet quitting means, but I don’t recommend it. Let’s just go to work and getter done!
Lynne Conlan is Executive Director of the South Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce. Call her at 813-634-5111, or email lynne@southhillschamber.com.
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