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Quiet Quitting

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Re: Quiet Quitting

#41

Post by ianbicking »

aosmith wrote: post #12
ianbicking wrote: post #8

One of the quotes from younger people is "I realise the things I’m doing are above my pay grade" – "above my pay grade" is definitely not a term invented by the youth. Nothing being attributed to young people here is new. If the author can't see that, and thinks this attitude wasn't present in the Boomer generation, then they themselves aren't putting in the necessary reflective work.

Feel free to correct me if you think I'm wrong but I always interpreted "above my pay grade" as lacking the authority to make certain decisions.

Yes, I also interpret it similarly, but also see it used when a task involves engaging with company politics or strategy that is organizationally above where the person is or where it feels inaccessible. Like if you are asked to do something and it requires help from some other group, and they say no, you might say that resolving the issue is above your pay grade... even though you _could_ hassle those other people to get the work done. In that sense saying "that's above my pay grade" can indicate you aren't prepared to hustle within the corporate structure.

Re: Quiet Quitting

#42

Post by itake »

jenny91 wrote: post #13

There has been an erosion and change in the nature of the employee-employer relationship. Back in the day that the author initially started working, the nature of the relationship was probably much more balanced: the employee got a decent wage, was trusted to fulfil their duties with reasonable concessions and freedom (sometimes possibly doing overtime if necessary, but also being able to leave early on days when the…

I know people that try to extract the maximum amount of value from their job with the least amount of effort. This typically entails taking extended mental health leave. They get 6-24 months of 0-100% base pay, healthcare, pto, and rsu vests while providing negative value to the organization.

I feel like these "take advantage of the system people" are partially the cause of stricter monitoring and leeway.

Re: Quiet Quitting

#43

Post by neogodless »

vaidhy wrote: post #23
neogodless wrote: post #3

It irks me that some people use this term to mean "doing your job, as expected." I would imagine it to mean "doing the absolute smallest amount you can get away with without getting noticed and subsequently fired." Fulfilling my duties but not doing overtime seems like "doing your job" rather than "quiet quitting."

"doing the absolute smallest amount you can get away with without getting noticed and subsequently fired." That is an interesting phrase. Isn't this what is required of you to do? If you are failing at the job, you will at least get noticed. So, what is quiet quitting? In my mind, it seems like not having ambition to grow in the corporate world is (negatively) called out as quiet quitting.

This is going to depend on how much you are monitored, if you have key performance indicators, if management really has a useful gauge of your productivity to use.

If it's a 3-tier scale, the middle "doing your job" means you use your 8 hours / day to get work done (mostly). You don't push off as many duties as possible while "waiting" for more information. You don't go fishing while logging hours. You continue to see what you can get done throughout the day, and you do it, even if you're not being watched and monitored.

On that bottom tier, unless something is specifically measurable, unless there's a solid grasp of accountability that management can use to ensure the work you're doing is meaningfully productive from their point of view, you don't have to do much of anything. You could be in sales but not selling anything. You could show up for required meetings, but make up reasons why you didn't get anything done. You could spend 7 of your 8 hours watching Netflix. Basically, you quietly (as in, without being noticed) quit (as in, stopped doing your job.)

Re: Quiet Quitting

#45

Post by gsibble »

masterof0 wrote: post #14

Boomers look surprised, and I think they fail to see the reality of current times. Decades ago, an university teacher, could afford to buy a home for his family , not too far from where he/she/* worked. Nowadays, even with FAANG salaries you can't buy a decent size home for your family even in a "30 minutes drive" radio from where your offices are. Imagine other professions who are not paid as much. People see throug…

Exactly. This is why we don't want to break our backs working and they are clueless.

Re: Quiet Quitting

#46

Post by unity1001 »

neogodless wrote: post #3

It irks me that some people use this term to mean "doing your job, as expected." I would imagine it to mean "doing the absolute smallest amount you can get away with without getting noticed and subsequently fired." Fulfilling my duties but not doing overtime seems like "doing your job" rather than "quiet quitting."

> Fulfilling my duties but not doing overtime seems like "doing your job" rather than "quiet quitting."

Yeah, but the employers see 'just doing your job' as you not working enough. They want you to go 'above and beyond' and 'dedicate yourself to the mission' with 'passion'. Hence, quiet quitting.

Re: Quiet Quitting

#47

Post by gsibble »

aaaaaaaaaaab wrote: post #39

Step 1: *systematically kill the middle class over a generation* Step 2: "noooooo, why are these workers not pushing themselves like they used to? are you not believing in our mission statement? but we've introduced Pride Month this year! what else do you want???" Step 3: ???

Yep.

Re: Quiet Quitting

#48

Post by blamazon »

Humans have been doing this forever, just working hard enough to not be fired. If anything it's idealistic youth who tend to buck that trend and subscribe to hustle culture en masse. From the 1999 movie Office Space:

> Peter Gibbons: The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.

> Bob Porter: Don't... don't care?

> Peter Gibbons: It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime; so where's the motivation?

Re: Quiet Quitting

#49

Post by drbwaa »

neogodless wrote: post #3

It irks me that some people use this term to mean "doing your job, as expected." I would imagine it to mean "doing the absolute smallest amount you can get away with without getting noticed and subsequently fired." Fulfilling my duties but not doing overtime seems like "doing your job" rather than "quiet quitting."

I've never heard young people use this term the way the author claims - that's the definition used by people of the author's generation. Young people, by and large, seem to call it "doing your job", as you say.

In my experience, young people saying "quiet quitting" are referring explicitly to the judgmental attitude around work-life balance that's held by some older members of the workforce.

Re: Quiet Quitting

#50

Post by shadowgovt »

neogodless wrote: post #3

It irks me that some people use this term to mean "doing your job, as expected." I would imagine it to mean "doing the absolute smallest amount you can get away with without getting noticed and subsequently fired." Fulfilling my duties but not doing overtime seems like "doing your job" rather than "quiet quitting."

It's pretty well-understood that a company does not function if everyone performs only the duties written on paper. There's even a counterproductive strategy that uses that as the hallmark: "malicious compliance." People aren't robots (if they were, they'd have been automated by now so owners could keep all the wealth by owning all the capital) and the challenges businesses face are too dynamic to survive a script-only approach to meeting people's needs.

I think the most important question to ask is "If the company dies, why don't the employees care?" And unpacking that box can answer all sorts of unasked questions about power imbalance in the modern (mostly service, non-union) economy.

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