Quiet Quitting. Should we be more concerned about this than about Big Quit?
All the newspapers have been talking about this #Quiet Quitting with 90 million views on Tik Tok. It has become the rallying sign of employees who are opposed to the work culture, who refuse overtime, who demand a systematic disconnection outside of work hours, and who don't see the point of getting more and more involved while risking burnout.
But what is this "silent resignation" or "discreet resignation"?
The origins of the movement
And what if the phenomenon, far from dating from yesterday, was 2 centuries old?
We can consider that he was embodied, as early as 1853, by Bartleby, a character invented by Herman Melville in one of his short stories. Bartleby is a clerk hired in a law firm to make copies. After having shown some involvement, he will refuse one by one all the tasks that will be asked of him with this formula that has become famous "I would prefer not to".
In the 2000s, the series "The Office" denounces the absurdity of the working world. It popularizes the character of Jim who manages to do as little as possible
And just recently, in April 2021, it was in China that a new trend went viral on TikTok: "tangping". It literally means "lying down". We can guess the protest movement. The hashtag is now censored in the country
To return to quiet quitting, the trend is now spreading to the UK, the USA and Australia
Understanding this movement
The phenomenon might almost not surprise us given the current low level of employee engagement highlighted by the latest Gallup report (9% in the UK, 6% in France).
Between the search for meaning, the climate emergency, the contradictory injunctions between growth objectives and the need for sobriety, we can understand the "what's the point" that translates the state of mind of the "quiet quitters".
The health crisis has certainly accentuated this transformation of the relationship to work, this refocusing on oneself.
Quiet quitters" tend to be young, under 30 years old.
They call for strict adherence to his job description, to do the minimum. But they are not oblivious, and yet they are not going to take the risk of getting fired
The Guardian reports some representative quotes, "Your job is not your whole life!" Quiet quitters avoid all non-essential effort, "leave the office on time and mute Slack" before posting it on social media.
Hunter Kaimi, who embodies the movement on TikTok, argues that the very idea of working overtime to buy your own home in a world that may not even be livable in 50 years is as outrageous as it is ignorant.
Another example, that of Laurène, who militates after several experiences in advertising agencies: "the goal of our lives is not to stay 40 years in the same toxic company". "You arrive at 8 a.m., you leave at 6 p.m., so you end up working extra hours, while supposedly working flexible hours (...)".
We even see the appearance of "minimalist coaches" like August Gawen who explains: "Jobs will come and go, but nothing is more important than your sanity, your mental health, the time that you spend with family and friends. That's the stuff that really, really matters.
Between the lines
However, beware of over-mediatization and mixing of genres.
It is important to distinguish 2 categories of "quiet quitters".
- On the one hand, there are employees who were formerly very involved, even over-invested in their work. Exhausted after the pandemic, lacking recognition from their hierarchy, some having experienced burnout, they decide to cut back. They see quiet quitting as a solution to survive and maintain their mental health.
- On the other hand, there are employees who reject the model of work and the company known and experienced by their parents. They see no sense in working themselves to exhaustion, in putting their work ahead of their private life and in maintaining a real boundary between private and professional life.
This trend is in addition to the Big Quit/Great Resignation trend. And we can legitimately ask ourselves if it is not more dangerous for companies. Indeed, wouldn't we prefer that a disengaged employee leaves the company? Seeing them stay when they are known to be unmotivated and uninvolved is like the worst nightmare of any DHR.
There is, however, a more positive way of looking at it.
And if this "quiet quitting" was nothing more than a new alarm signal.
As we know, the health crisis has led people to refocus on themselves, to review their relationship with work, to prioritize their physical and mental well-being. This is a new reality that the company must face because it needs to attract and retain the skills that are necessary for its activity.
How to solve the equation? By considering people as the company's main resource and taking care of them. Preserving the physical and mental health of its employees, ensuring their balance, explaining the company's raison d'être and vision, is the responsibility of the employer.
What's next?
Recapturing employee commitment means understanding their new relationship with work and meeting their expectations. The transformation initiated following the health crisis with the generalization of the hybrid model must be continued. It is preferable to do this in a co-construction approach and by addressing all dimensions: human, organizational, managerial and material.
The work environment and workspace touch on several of the dimensions mentioned above: material, but also organizational and human. They are powerful levers of well-being, performance and commitment within companies and must be integrated into the overall reflection.
At Parella, we are aware of the transformation challenges facing our clients today. We are committed to supporting them on a daily basis through the real estate lever.
Stéphanie POUZETMarketing and Communication Director
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