Act Your Wage: What Is Quiet Quitting and Why Are Employees Doing It?

Written by Trixia Policarpio

Work, work, work muna.

Many people nowadays, particularly members of Generation Z, are devoted to hustle culture and pursuing professional goals, perceived self-improvement, self-validation, and independence. However, the hustling culture frequently needs something in return that significantly impacts our lives, such as our proper mealtime, sleep, quality time with ourselves and loved ones, and other interests. Basically, it costs us our lives outside of work.?

While employees like this jumpstart with a full-on working motivation, this quickly drains away for many different—but can be highly valid—reasons. With long hours and little compensation, understaffed companies easily have an increasing number of burned-out employees. Consequently, this results in what Tiktok users and viewers call "quiet quitting." When you are unfamiliar with a term, it might have a negative impression and be readily misconstrued. However, the term does not refer to doing the bare minimum, slacking off, or ghosting employers. In fact, this phrase means working within your mandate. Gen Z employees termed it like this to emphasize, metaphorically, how they "quit" on overworking and are less eager to take on too many tasks.?

Looking at it, this Tiktok trend simply shows employees’ recognition of their worth and the proper treatment and fairness they deserve. It is also only about doing away with the hustle culture and not about intentionally failing to fulfill one's expected tasks.

Deserve ko ba ‘to??

The pandemic that affected the entire world in 2020 exposed and resurfaced many things that acted as an eye-opener for a lot of people. According to the PhilStar article, this quiet quitting is not new, but it definitely escalated during the pandemic. They cited the United Kingdom-based human resources magazine People Management which reported that “workers have already been doing it for years, whether to look for a new job or to disconnect due to lack of career growth, poor pay, or unmanageable workload.”?

When we subscribe to hustle culture, we're conditioned to define ourselves by our work and depend on it for our sense of fulfillment. When the pandemic turned our lives upside down and compelled us to work from home, however, individuals began to view life's values and customs differently. We struggle with balancing our roles and time for work and family, and we have realized that we are not only tied to our professional jobs.

Also, this kind of learning has a trickle-down effect that lets employees know when their workplace is no longer healthy and helps them grow. For example, sometimes employers are extremely tough and inconsiderate towards their employees. This can quickly transform the equal workmate relationships into a hierarchical system and reduce the employees' passion to mere obedience.

The article added that Deloitte, a UK-based professional services network, discovered that millennials and Gen Z professionals want greater flexibility, purpose, learning and development opportunities, and mental health and wellness support. On the other hand, Gallup, a company that conducted the 2021 survey from American analytics, revealed that millennials and Gen Z professionals prefer employers who care about their health, career, social, financial, and community well-being.

Deserve ko ‘to.

The underlying idea, then, of quiet quitting is that employees are not robots. We're already past the time when there were "bosses," "commands," and "followers," and now we strive to work as a real team. The question now is whether this trend will affect output and negate the purpose of employing enthusiastic candidates—and the answer is (and should be) NO.?

When asked about his views on quiet quitting, Lennor Group CEO King Santos gladly and openly stated, “I think quiet quitting is acceptable. It depends on the situation, but I don't think forcing yourself to stay in a position you don't like is a good idea.

"The business leaders must stop blaming people for doing their jobs competently and not going above and beyond.”

He also gave a piece of advice to hiring managers when it comes to employees engaging in quiet quitting: "When you make your employees feel like they need to over-perform to get ahead, you are creating an environment where employees are constantly on guard and afraid of what could happen if they don't perform perfectly. This leads to a culture of fear and paranoia, where employees are always worried about losing their jobs or being fired for minor mistakes.

This environment does not lead to creativity or innovation; it only leads to stress and burnout. Instead of focusing on how much work your employees can do in one day or week, focus on the value they add. If you want your people to go the extra mile, reward them for doing so—and don't punish them for not going above and beyond!", He added.

Furthermore, Paula Sigua, Group Business Development Lead of Lennor Group, also finds nothing wrong with quiet quitting and is accepting of the concept since it emphasizes the need for a more balanced work-life setting. She mentioned, “If you want to close your laptop after working hours - THAT’S FINE. If you don’t want to attend a corporate event on a weekend because of personal plans - THAT’S FINE. If you don’t want to answer your boss’ call during vacation - THAT’S FINE.” When asked about her thoughts as to why employees engage in quiet quitting, she mentioned the lack of motivation in terms of promotion opportunities or salary increases as the main reason employees tend to have a work-your-wage mindset. According to her, employers cannot expect their employees to go above and beyond at work when the motivation to do so is not set to be equally the same or higher. One piece of advice she gave to employers is that to foster a mutually beneficial employer-employee relationship; both parties must engage in an equitable give and take and set healthy boundaries.?

Clearly, quiet quitting encourages employers and employees to engage in collaborative communication to help each other achieve their respective goals effectively. Lennor Group Creative Intern Nadine Esplana also finds quiet quitting acceptable so long as the required responsibilities are completed. She also stresses that employees and employers must clearly understand their jobs to avoid misinterpreting employees' less-than-enthusiastic performance or reluctance to undertake more tasks as doing the bare minimum and forfeiting the opportunity to be promoted. According to her, quiet quitting happens because of “burn out from the work environment itself or being forced to do a task they don’t want.”

Moreover, Rikki Dalisay, Marketing Specialist of Lennor Group, also agrees with quiet quitting, considering how “the young generation of today is aware and very much keen as to the extent of their capacity and role as employees.” They reiterated the fine line between quiet quitting and bare minimum work, “For me, doing the bare minimum is doing tasks in a manner that is passable but not extraordinarily remarkable. On the other hand, quiet quitting is knowing one’s job description and doing only the things that are mandated or expected from them, especially since those are the only tasks that have been agreed upon by the employee and the employer.“?

To be clear, quiet quitting promotes not only a better and more equitable lifestyle but also encourages constructive workplace transformation. “In my opinion, employees engage in quiet quitting because their work environment does not merit additional compensation for working beyond their scope. My other take on it is simply because their work environment is not rewarding enough for employees to feel the urge to do more for the company or the management,” Rikki adds.?

Our passion for work should not be measured by how we set the limit or where we draw the line between our professional and personal lives. Our workplaces should be safe and in no way jeopardize our health, well-being, or the rights of either employees or employers.?

At Lennor Metier, we recognize exceptional talent and strive to provide them with the best career prospects and connect them with the most suitable organizations and pleasant employers. Contact us now, and let’s start working together!

Sources:

Garcia, N. (2022, August 23). “Quiet quitting” is taking over the workplace – what exactly does it mean? L!Fe ? the Philippine Star. https://philstarlife.com/news-and-views/483698-quiet-quitting-at-work-feature?page=3

Marples, M. (2022, August 22). Quiet quitting is the latest workplace trend, but it doesn’t mean what you think. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/22/business/quiet-quitting-tiktok-work-wellness/index.html