Yes, the Quiet Quitting Trend Matters

You’ve definitely heard of “quiet quitting” over the past month or so. From TikTok’s For You page to LinkedIn debates to news takes, the term has taken the internet by storm. But what does all of it really come down to? We’ve sifted through the ongoing conversation to pinpoint what you actually need to know about quiet quitting. The term might already feel exhausting, but there’s a good chance it’s affecting your workplace (sorry!).

50% of the US workforce is quiet quitting.

Gallup defines quiet quitting as “people who do the minimum required and are psychologically detached from their job.” According to their studies, more than half of employees fit into this category. Can you even really call it a new trend if so many people are already doing it?

The antidote might lie with bosses, not employees.

Per new Harvard Business Review data: “Quiet quitting is usually less about an employee’s willingness to work harder and more creatively, and more about a manager’s ability to build a relationship with their employees where they are not counting the minutes until quitting time.”

Social connections at work are the key to engagement.

One way to encourage employees to go the extra mile at work is to prioritize collaboration drivers like office layout and mentorship. When employees have social connections with their coworkers, they’re more likely to identify with the organization and, in turn, go above and beyond.

Maybe this is all a big deal over nothing…

A recent report from Microsoft brought to light another alliterative trend: productivity paranoia. In simple terms, employees themselves feel productive, but business leaders don’t have confidence in their teams’ productivity. It seems like there’s a gap between how much work is actually getting done and the perceptions around that work. Similarly, quiet quitting may just be a case of mismatched expectations and realities.

Some say quiet quitting is actually just “meeting expectations.”

As Ed Zitron points out in his newsletter, “[Quiet quitting] is not ‘doing less.’ It is doing exactly what you are paid to do, not taking on additional responsibilities, not working past your allotted hours, and being paid to do so.” So is there anything wrong with it? If employers are looking for workers to do more, they may need to examine factors in their control: roles and responsibilities, incentives, and workplace wellbeing. Otherwise, everyone doing what they’re supposed to doesn’t sound so scary, does it?