By Rose Miller
There is a term floating around the TikTok work circles. I like to follow TikTok’s workplace trends discussions because I get to hear what employees are talking about. Similar to the way restaurateurs follow Yelp, some employers follow social media such as TikTok, Reddit, and Twitter to hear what the work force is saying about their employers and their work environments.
There is a phrase called “quietly quitting” and it is catching on quickly.
What I found as a surprising discovery was that the term doesn’t mean they are actually leaving their jobs. Instead, they have decided not to take their jobs too seriously. Young professionals are stating they reject the idea of going above and beyond in their careers. The idea is to stay at the company but focus time on things they do outside of work. They have decided to pass on promotions, pay and titles.
They are setting some firm boundaries like refusing to work overtime. They insist on leaving right at five. Others advertise the fact that they will only do enough to get by. Unlike their senior managers, they don’t want their careers to be confused with personal identifies.
Remember these are young professionals and it’s not uncommon for younger employees to, at first, refuse to climb the corporate ladder, only to end up changing their minds later. Gaining a mortgage, spouse and children can change perspectives and priorities in a drastic way.
I’m a ‘70s girl and I can remember my generation saying not to trust anyone over 40 years old. It was a time when young people were “anti-establishment” only to become the establishment later in their lives.
The difference today is the impact of what HR professionals call “learned behaviors.” Gen X, who are now between 40-50 years old and young professionals in their mid-20-30s have watched their parents and grandparents give it their all, be consumed by their work and sacrificed family time, only to be tossed aside when corporate margins decreased, even slightly. They learned people were disposable.
They lived through the tragic 9/11 attack, where devoted employees stayed in the building and held their posts. They learned dedication can kill you. They lived through a pandemic, with all its dislocating effects, which blurred the boundaries between work and life. They learned to disengage.
Are they wrong? Is it bad to refuse to let work worries rule over your life? In listening to some of the TikTok posts, these workers still get their jobs done. It’s not that they don’t work hard. It’s just that they have decided not to stress over any of the details or deliverables.
They are creating priorities and career is not at the top of the list. And it’s important to note that these same sentiments cross generational lines.
This may be bad news for some employers because studies indicate that employee engagement is at an all-time low. Quietly quitting means doing the minimum required and not much more. More than half of the workers surveyed by Gallup fell into this category.
Many employees are not signing up for extra training, they aren’t subscribing to the hustle-culture mentality, and they are not even socializing with colleagues.
But fear not. At the end of the day humans are not a one-size fits all species. There will always be slackers, worker-bees, and the very ambitious. Even some TikTok posts are arguing with the quiet quitters, saying they do not represent the workers who find purpose in what they do.
And there it is—a tip for employers to increase engagement by making sure they communicate the purpose of what they do, why they do it, and especially how the worker contributes to that purpose. When engagement is low, the mission must be communicated and demonstrated clearly and often.
In all fairness, the phrase is not encouraging workers to be lazy. Instead, it is actually a reminder to maintain balance and avoid burnout. I believe any generation can agree with that.