The workplace phenomenon known as “quiet quitting” has touched every industry and every large company across the U.S. “Quiet quitting” refers to employees who do the absolute bare minimum required of them on the job without getting terminated.
Reasons for quiet quitting vary, but it’s most often cited as means to achieve a more balanced and fulfilling life. Rejecting “hustle culture” and getting off the fast track to success is a way to show disapproval of the job or the workplace.
Not surprisingly, managers are taking a dim view of the phenomenon. A recent survey by ResumeBuilder found that “91% of managers said they have taken some action against quiet quitters, including denying raises or promotions and even taking steps to terminate them.”
Of course, they have. Almost 25% of managers surveyed say they’ve taken steps to fire quiet quitters.
“All states and Washington, D.C. are all at-will employment states, so that means employers don’t need a reason to terminate an employee. Having said that, very few organizations just go around firing people without at least talking to them or putting them on a performance plan. And certainly terminating an employee is also costly to an organization,” said Stacie Haller, a career expert at ResumeBuilder.
Quiet quitters may feel they are doing themselves a favor in terms of the quality of their personal lives, but they aren’t doing much to advance the quality of their professional lives.
My father worked his way up the corporate ladder to become the number-three executive in a Fortune 500 company. He found time to help raise 10 children, too. I would be hard-pressed to find anyone who lived a more fulfilling personal and professional life.
Related: The Phenomenon of ‘Quiet Quitting’
There’s no secret to balancing both. The problem for Gen Zers and Millennials is that they have no clue how to plan their lives to make that balance a reality. Do they really know how to set personal and professional goals and priorities? Do they know that finding this balance takes time and, most of all, effort? It just doesn’t fall into your lap. You’ve got to work at it — just like anything else that’s worthwhile.
While most managers said taking steps to address performance issues is the preferred solution, 75% of managers surveyed said it is justifiable to fire someone only doing the bare minimum. Of that 75%, 43% said they would be “somewhat justified” and 32% said they would be “‘very justified” in firing someone for only doing the bare minimum.
Thirty-one percent of managers do admit they make the work-life balance more difficult for quiet quitters, in the hopes that those employees will quit.
While quiet quitting and quiet firing are getting more attention right now, Haller said neither is actually anything new in the workplace.
If the remote office is leading to more “quiet quitting,” perhaps it’s time to order people to return to work in an office environment. Then, if they want to stay at home to get more personal satisfaction out of life, they can do it on another manager’s dime.
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