Attitudes towards work have changed drastically over the years. One of the hottest trends on TikTok right now is “quiet quitting” your job. The interesting thing about quiet quitting is that it doesn’t mean quitting your job at all.
Most of us put a lot of effort into our day jobs—usually going above and beyond what our job descriptions require. Quiet quitting takes that idea and punts it as far away as possible.
In other words, quiet quitting is just doing what’s required of you on paper, nothing more nothing less. You don’t actually resign, you just stop going the extra mile.
Another interesting thing about quiet quitting is where the rest of someone’s energy goes—if not to work. After consuming probably hours of quiet quitting content, an obvious trend among its pioneers is that they channel their energy into literally anything else.
You’ve probably realized by now that quiet quitting isn’t actually something new. While the term “quiet quitting” is used by Gen Z, people have already actually been doing it for years. It’s basically just setting boundaries to avoid burnout.
A very real and terrible side effect of the pandemic was the steep rise in mental health crises people suffered. Being stuck at home without any escape and watching the COVID numbers rise have made lots of people reevaluate their lives, and that includes their relationship to their job.
The numbers back it up, too. In a 2022 Deloitte survey, 63 percent of millennials and 70 percent of Gen Zs in the Philippines were found to be experiencing burnout. This rate is much higher than the global average of 45 percent.
The reason behind the high rates? High workload demands—in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic. It’s also worth noting that even though the basic cost of goods has increased or the sizes of the goods themselves have shrunk, salaries aren’t going up a commensurate amount. Not to mention taxes.
Versus quitting your job and losing your income stream, soft quitting seems to be a way to strategically cope and take care of yourself.
A lot of us also ascribe to the thought that you should be working in your dream field. The popular saying goes, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
That’s the thing, though. No matter how much you love it, a job is still a job. It’s still what pays the bills and enables you to live the life you want. You can be passionate about it (which is encouraged), but setting boundaries is necessary for your overall wellbeing.
Remember, we work to live, not the other way around.