Quiet quitting is a movement started in the United States that is coming to Europe. Once there was talk of labor rights, today, many workers choose to work more hours than they are paid. Quite quitting claims, the benefits of respecting working time, rest and personal and family life.
For many employees, it has become normal to work overtime almost daily and get involved in projects that lead them to work at home, on weekends or during the holidays. It’s probably part of personal freedom, but it often can’t be done without increasing your risk of physical and mental illness. Workers who adhere to “quiet quitting” are aware of this and discreetly say “no” to the priority of work over other aspects of life, to the week of 60 hours or more and the philosophy of permanent availability, sharpened by the digital connection.
WHAT IS QUIET QUITTING?
The explosion of work at home during the Covid-19 pandemic may have suggested that the invasion of personal time by working time was a fait accompli. However, many people have actually discovered the need to set priorities in life and respect them. Mark Fallak of the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA, University of Bonn, Germany) believes, for example, “that the much-talked about work-life balance is more important for the career aspirations of the younger generation, which tends to lean more towards life.” In other words, to be people, their freedom counts more than salary or prestige.
Digitalization has facilitated mobile and flexible working, but it has also led to an increasing blurring of the boundaries between working time and leisure time, which can be very stressful if no limits are set, explains Fallak.
Quiet quitting is an attempt to compensate for this crossing of boundaries. The pandemic may also have made many people aware of what really counts when the going gets tough: health and family.
VALUE AS A PERSON IS NOT DEFINED BY WORK
It is no longer clear to whom or what exactly the term goes back. It became a trend, among other things, through a viral video on Tik Tok with 3.5 million views, in which a user explains quiet quitting: “It’s not about quitting work, but about giving up the idea of going further.”
At least in the United States, quiet quitting is perceived as a movement where many people are exchanging views on social media about why they should do more at work than they get paid.
For a long time, this overcommitment was almost tacitly assumed in many industries. And employees participated (and continue to do so), sometimes just out of fear of losing their job, and sometimes because it’s part of the corporate culture. But with the shortage of skilled workers, a new self-confidence is developing among employees.
“The shortage of skilled workers affects many sectors. This increases the bargaining power of employees and job seekers vis-à-vis the company, Fallak explains. “Instead of more money, many are now demanding shorter and, above all, more flexible working hours.”
QUIET QUITTING, AN EMERGENCY BRAKE BEFORE EXHAUSTION
Of course, it would be unfortunate if quiet quitting went hand in hand with a distancing between the interests of companies and those of workers. Quiet quitting does not mean going to work reluctantly, in an attitude of inner exile, without desire to get involved in your ambitions. If that were the case, it would be better to find another job. What it means is keeping the time and energy spent at work in place, in balance with the other facets of life.
In practice, it means rejecting projects that go beyond one’s own area of responsibility, leaving work on time, and not answering messages after hours. In reality, they can be understood as measures to maintain physical and mental health, something that interests both workers themselves and companies.
