Why Quiet Quitting is a Good Sign - The Future of American Work Culture

The internet can’t stop talking about “Quiet Quitting” – i.e. when an employee stops coming in early, leaves on time, and doesn’t do more than their actual job. Using this term to describe an employee just not exploiting themselves is hilariously revealing about American work culture. And while all this talk of quiet quitting and burnout sounds pretty negative, actually it’s a very positive sign – that collectively our attitude toward deep-seated toxic workplace expectations is shifting.

If you like this video, subscribe to our channel and support us:

We are The Take (formerly ScreenPrism).

00:00 Does quiet quitting really mean... quitting?
01:16 This workplace shift has been a long time coming
04:30 Does quiet quitting work for everyone?
07:34 Where this means we are headed...
10:19 Hopefully quit quitting inspires real change

[allieasay]

I prefer the term "acting your wage, " much more than quiet quitting. It puts the responsibility on the employer instead of the employee.

[greyLeicester]

"Your job wont love you back" is a pretty good read that supports the quiet quitting culture

[PrettyPrincess]

I’m a black woman and a customer service worker and I use to go above and beyond at my job everyday until my job promoted my coworker who I previously reported for harassing me. On top of that, a manager asked me to work on my day off and I had to report her to HR as well. I wasn’t even given a raise or a bonus for exceeding their goals and they simply said I should do more work. That was my wake up call. After that, I started quiet quitting and my manager has been questioning me about not going above and beyond anymore but I don’t care. I updated my resume, applied for jobs, and now I start my new job in a few weeks. I also finally found a data entry job and no longer have to work in customer service. Also my response to the black woman who said black women can’t quiet quit is that I feel that it’s time black women stop going above and beyond to help others. If you aren’t up for a raise or a bonus, don’t go above and beyond. It’s time we put ourselves first. Stop pushing that narrative that it’s our job to help everyone but ourselves. I’m going to keep quiet quitting until my last day when I finally quit.

[Zehruk]

I just hate the term "Quiet Quitting" when you're not quitting you are just doing the job you were hired to do.

[hippopotamusbosch]

I was told during a job interview that there would be a bonus for meeting performance goals. After asking if they had ever been met, they answered no. 🤦‍♂️

[crystalcastillo]

So tired of Hustle Culture. I just watched someone who I worked with die from a heart attack and there was no mention of him. He worked there for 55 years. Worked long shifts and nothing. No minute of silence, no acknowledgment. A job posting was posted two days later on Indeed. So incredibly disappointed. I will no longer break my back to do the most for a job that will replace me in a second.

[JustRaeesa]

Here I was, fully convinced "quiet quitting" was a term for people silently leaving their job over email.

[chrissyr]

Can we also talk about quiet fireing...You know. The tactics companies use to make you so miserable that they quit. So the company doesn't have to pay for unemployment...
Examples:
- Penalizing minor tardiness
-Refusing to accept paid time request made by the companies rules
- Continually badgering employee about not "meeting quota"
- Guilting employee into thinking each minor mistake is gonna destroy the company.
-Piling a ridiculous amount of work

[SHyperice]

This quiet quitting-scandal sounds kind of funny to me. Being from Europe, that is actually what I have done all my life...😅
And we'd just call it work.

[mariecait]

I quit grind culture in 2016. I burned out and couldn’t fake it anymore. I attempted to take my own life. I now collect disability and live a quiet life in the woods with my cat.

[patriciaa]

The company doesn't pay me extra for staying after hours or going above and beyond. I learned that the hard way after being taken advantage of in my first job where I was overworked for minimum wage and no benefits. I tried to make myself feel better by saying my work ethic is why all the work was piled on me but the truth is I was burned out and depressed.

[bobthedopeman]

I work at UPS. We were considered essential during the pandemic so we had to continue working. It took 9 months for them to even mandate masks in a crowded, close quartered, factory. We did not receive a cent of hazard pay. Which is funny because of how much money they made from everyone shipping EVERYTHING during the quarantines. It's sad how little that company cares for its employees....

[jamesmarshall]

As a manager I always tell young people, I want you to do good work, I don't worry how many hours you're working. Some executives I worked with are obsessed with how many hours employees are working, making sure they work every second of every hour. I tell them if they're good at what they do and they get their weekly work done in 35 hours that's good. They can use the extra 5 hours doing whatever and in a lot of cases they use those 5 hours to come up with ideas or do something for their job that helps improve. Occasionally they will have to work over 40 hours and we tell them that but we also try to avoid those circumstances where we can and it helps with retention. Quiet quitting has always been a thing, always will be a thing, and executives complain because they complain about anything where they might have to adjust. They want you to do more for the same pay and act grateful. As a man in his forties who was both a teacher, worked in the private sector in finance, I use what I've learned to tell young people all you owe your employer is a good day's work, nothing more. You don't owe them loyalty, you don't owe them being grateful, you don't owe them your life because when you're on your death bed you're not going to look back on your life wishing you had worked for an average or crappy company more, you're going to wish you had more fun in life.

[RCola]

Another thing to consider is that the new norm for corporations is having a higher budget for new hires vs investing in retention. This creates a fall out of this current resignation trend where you have workers doing what is best for them and skipping to a new job for better benefits and pay every 2-3years. Corporations are literally shooting themselves in the foot from multiple angles.

[marygunning]

It’s also interesting to consider the fact that once you’re a salaried employee with healthcare and benefits, you’re no longer able to receive pay for working overtime. So if you want a stable income and healthcare (which should be a human right anyways.. 🙄), you’re expected to grind without reward and they essentially own your time even outside of working hours because you’re “salaried”. Our entire system was set up for exploitation.

[purpleflows]

I’ve known several people who were fired for transitioning to just doing their job and not working outside of work hours. Work places hate it when their employees have boundaries in my experience. Jobs are used to us working a lot of hours for free. Going “above and beyond” at the detriment to our well being is what’s expected to keep a job.

[reyfan]

Never knew there was a term for this. It shouldn’t be seen as strange or out of the ordinary or ‘quitting’. You are doing what u were paid to do, come in and leave on time. I always felt it made me lazy that I wanted to leave on time because my co workers or managers made me feel I was trying to cut work early. And working retail is unbelievably stressful for someone like me who can’t do small talk or even look people in the eye, but it’s part of my job performance and my manager is hovering over me if I’m not making small talk with customers at the register .

[veganrican]

What I hate is jobs that are designed to make you work 3 jobs for the price of 1.

[maloojisloves]

I watched my own mother sacrifice her mental health and overall well-being, going above & beyond her job duties for 20 YEARS. Working 60 hours a week for years and what did she have to show for it? NOTHING. Not a pension plan, health benefits or even given the company car she was using (She was once promised it but never got anything in writing)! She got nothing for choosing work over her kids & family. I learned a lot watching her. I now “act my wage” and am still a stellar employee & like my job! No need to go above and beyond because if I were to die, they would find a replacement the same day. The boomers can teach us a lot!

[marcjohnson]

I've always been great at my jobs and my bosses have always missed me when I've quit, but I've never been promoted. I've always established boundaries at work and let them know that I'm doing them the favor by coming in early, staying late, or coming in on my day off. Good to see the rest of America catching up on the stupid hustle culture.