Quiet Quitting Is Becoming Employees Loudest Voice

In honor of Mental Health week, today’s Blogtober prompt is about mental health. In light of that, I am talking about burnout in the office and the viral phenomenon quiet quitting.

The definition of quiet quitting, according to Wikipedia, is “ in which employees work within defined work hours and engage solely in activities within those hours.” Those who quiet quit often do what is in their job description only, and “act their wage.”

This is best demonstrated on the TikTok, Saraisthreads. Her videos demonstrate a toxic office culture, where the boss, Susan tries to get the character Veronica, to do a series of tasks such as stay later, skip lunch, and call her on her vacation. Veronica continually calls HR whenever Susan does something, and thankfully they side with Veronica.

However, this skit is the reality for many in cooperate America.

Office burnout has become more prominent since the early days in the pandemic. According to an article on Apollo Technical entitled Startling Remote Work Burnout Statistics, 77 percent of Americans report that they have felt burnt out at their current position. But, what is even more startling is that 91 percent of them feel unmanageable stress that affects their quality of life and work.

This has gotten way worse in recent years. Thanks to the pandemic, it’s now easier than ever before to log in after hours and on weekends to get work done. Some of this work is simply piled on, while some of this is simply due to the pressure employees feel to qualify for a promotion.

When burnt out to this degree, I think that quiet quitting can be the only option to gain some sort of traction and to essentially allow employees to take their power back. The reality is that we need better work life balance, because when we are constantly put under stress, we are constantly facing the other issues that stress causes, such as issues with mental health, high blood pressure, and the constant exhaustion.

Personally, I think that when a job causes you to feel those symptoms on a consistent basis (not season), than quiet quitting because a way to get the power back. Instead of staying late, quiet quitting allows you to have the ability to leave at their end time. Instead of skipping breaks, quiet quitting allows them to actually get the meals and a breath of fresh air. This is creating boundaries. And, by creating them, we allow us to come to work less stressed and more focused. Essentially, quiet quitting is the way that employees take back the benefits that are rightfully theirs. They are not doing more — they are doing just enough.

With that being said, I don’t think that quiet quitting means not doing a job or being an excuse to just sit at a role all day without being productive. And, I don’t think that means that people should not do their very best at their jobs, because I think if you have a job you should give it one hundred percent because I believe that at the very least if you are paid to do a job, you should do it well.

I also think that it’s not people don’t want to work. I think people are tired and people just are burnt out. Therefore, quiet quitting is the option they choose as they either take the time they need for themselves or look for other employment.

I believe that quiet quitting simply is allowing those to finally get some balance in their lives. When someone is so stressed out, they need to do something. I think when employers notice this in their employers, they should ask what’s wrong and try to make things better for the employee or at least listen to them. Quiet quitting has become a phenomenon, and I hope it’s something that is eye opening to employers.

Furthermore, I believe that quiet quitting allows employees balance. Balance in term allows employees to finally get a breathe of fresh air, which is something that I believe will in turn improve the mental health of cooperate America.

Balance is crucial in today’s world. With the rise of social media, I believe that there is pressure to be perfect at everything and give 100 percent to every category in life from parenting to work. The reality is that is impossible. With the rise of quiet quitting, it gives employers in my opinion a chance to realize that there is more to an employee’s life than their job title. They have families, hobbies and more. They have to take care of themselves. And, with that, I feel as though quiet quitting serves as that reminder.

So, whether you think it’s good or bad, I invite those who are reading this to look deeper into the issue to develop a workplace that will benefit workers overall well being.