The Rise of ‘Quiet Quitting‘: A New Name for an Old Struggle?
The internet loves a buzzword, and the latest one taking the professional world by storm is “quiet quitting.” But what does it actually mean? Is it a revolutionary act of self-preservation or a recipe for career stagnation? As with most viral trends, the answer is far more nuanced than a hashtag can convey.
The Roots of ‘Quiet Quitting‘: Burnout, Hustle Culture, and the Great Resignation
To understand this phenomenon, we need to rewind a bit. The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented changes to the workplace. Remote work blurred the lines between personal and professional lives, leading to increased workloads and widespread burnout. Enter the “Great Resignation,” as employees, fed up with unsustainable work conditions, left their jobs in droves.
“Quiet quitting” seems to be the offspring of this turbulent period. It describes the act of doing the bare minimum at work—fulfilling your job description but not going above and beyond. No more late nights, no more taking on extra projects, and a definitive “no” to the pressure of being “always on.”
