On TikTok, a new movement has erupted, energizing young workers and perplexing managers. A hashtag with over 3.9 million views on TikTok, “quiet quitting,” has nothing to do with people quitting their jobs. Many content creators have jumped onboard the trend, hoping to gain more followers.
Instead, the movement seeks to assist individuals in reining in their tendency to overachieve at work, which “quiet quitters” contend can result in burnout.
Although many Gen Z employees and older professionals support the idea, not everyone agrees, including career coaches. In a video, TikToker and career coach Kelsey Wat expressed their disagreement with the idea of quiet quitting and expressed their concerns.
She urged employees to consider whether their occupations matched their principles and interests. Wat said that if they don’t, it could be time to move on.
Other experts question whether the movement’s moniker is actually doing more harm than good and why it is dubbed quiet quitting when quitting isn’t even a factor.
Software developer Shini, also known as @Baobao.farm on TikTok, contends that the idea of quiet quitting simply entails working a reasonable amount and meeting job requirements. Shini suggests referring to it as what it really is: performing your job.
However, a global Deloitte poll of over 23,000 Gen Z and millennial employees indicated that some of these individuals aren’t as amenable to negotiating when it comes to values and culture in the workplace.
According to the survey’s news release, nearly half of Gen Z employees expressed interest in leaving their positions within the next two years. Pay, concerns about workplace mental health, and exhaustion were the main factors for recent employee departures.
The new priorities for a job include learning and development, as well as a healthy work-life balance. In a Clifton Strengths Gallup interview, workplace expert Paul Walters gave companies some tips on how to deal with the continually shifting values of workers across generations, who together make up 46% of the U.S. workforce.