WORKPLACE TREND

The curious
trend of quiet
quitting
Es ist eine leise Revolution: Immer mehr
Menschen liefern auf der Arbeit nur noch
das Nötigste ab. Das ist gut für das eigene
Wohlbefinden, aber gefährlich für das Geschäft.

Von RACHEL PREECE

MEDIUM

boundary , Grenze
career transition
, beruflicher Wechsel

go above and beyond

, hier etwa: mehr Einsatz
erbringen
hustle [(hVs&l]
, Getümmel; hier: Arbeit
unter Hochdruck
he term “quiet quitting” has gone global,

T “Quiet quitting is hybrid [(haIbrId]

and it seems everyone has an opinion , in Präsenz und im
about it. The Financial Times declared it was Homeoffice arbeitend
“worse than nonsense”, while Psychology
Today said it was “great for your mental health”. But
what does it mean exactly?
direct resistance to indicate sth.
, etw. erkennen lassen

mental , hier: psychisch

No, quiet quitting doesn’t refer to someone who
tiptoes out of the office, never to return. The phrase
first gained popularity on TikTok in July 2022. Zaid
hustle culture” off , hier: frei
quit [kwIt] ifml.
, kündigen
Khan, a New York software engineer, posted a very remote
popular video, in which he described the term as , im Homeoffice arbeitend
“quitting the idea of going above and beyond. You’re rest , Pause(n)
still performing your duties, but you’re no longer enough rest, refusing to answer Teams calls and mes- software engineer
subscribing to the hustle-culture mentality that sages outside our working hours and taking regular [)endZI(nIE]
work has to be your life.” time off, all of which are healthy ideas. , Informatiker(in)
Illustration: Daniel Stolle

Essentially, quiet quitting involves doing what’s US data from Gallup indicates that quiet quitters subscribe to sth.
, etw. abonnieren; hier:
required in your role at work: no more, no less. could make up more than half of all American work-
sich etw. verschreiben
Elizabeth Houghton, a career transition coach, ers. Remote and hybrid workers under the age of 35
tiptoe [(tIptEU]
explains: “Quiet quitting is about boundaries at are driving this trend, but it is a global phenomenon, , auf Zehenspitzen gehen,
the workplace.” It’s about making sure we get and the phrase is spreading around the world. schleichen

CAREERS 12/2022 Business Spotlight 35

 Finding a balance While the disruption that quiet quitting causes is account , Bericht

The pandemic transformed our working lives. While harder to measure than that of the Great Resignation, alpha [(ÄlfE] , hier: die
besten Investitionen
some welcomed the change, others found it hard to some data suggests that it might be impacting the
adapt. The Deloitte Global 2022 Gen Z and Millen- economy. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics found annual , Jahres-

nial Survey found that younger employees were that workforce productivity decreased dramatical- antidote [(ÄntidEUt]
, Gegenmittel
struggling to find a positive work-life balance — 44 ly in 2022. Of course, there could be many reasons
per cent of Gen Z had left a job because of workload for this historic drop: the record number of people Bureau of Labor Statistics
[(bjUErEU] US , Behörde
pressure, while 46 per cent felt burned out. Together, changing jobs, global supply chain disruptions or für Arbeitsmarktstatistik
Gen Z and millennials will make up more than half the global talent shortage, for example. But some of
compensation
of the global workforce by 2030, and their views will the world’s biggest corporations are worried about , Vergütung
certainly change how we work. decreasing productivity. consultant , Berater(in)
It’s not just the pandemic that has changed at- A screenshot obtained by Insider showed that
corporation
titudes, though. One 2022 study found that 45 per a sales executive at Google Cloud said that there , Unternehmen
cent of Gen Z feels that ca- would be an “overall examina-
disengaged
reer and money do not define tion of sales productivity and , nicht länger engagiert
success, echoing Zaid Khan’s productivity in general” if re-
words about not accepting the
hustle culture that’s been pop-
“Working with sults were not good. At Meta,
too, Mark Zuckerberg told
disruption , Störung;
hier auch: Wandel
engage with sth.
ularized by entrepreneurs like
Gary Vaynerchuk. Nadia De
Ala is the founder of Real You
strong boundaries managers to take a closer look
at low performers. Accord-
ing to McLean & Company,
, mit etw. interagieren

entrepreneur
[)QntrEprE(n§:]

Leadership, an organization
that supports minority wom-
en in leadership positions. De
can be hard if disengaged employees cost
companies around $3,400 for
every $10,000 in annual salary.
, Unternehmer(in)

founder , Gründer(in)
gen [dZen] ifml.
Ala “quietly quit” her job about
five years ago. “Quiet quitting
you’ve never done it It’s no shock that managers are
trying to improve productivi-
, Generation

Great Resignation
, hier: Kündigungswelle
is an antidote and direct resis-
tance to hustle culture,” she
tells Business Spotlight. “Work-
before” ty levels.
These accounts generated
plenty of headlines, with sug-
highlight sth.
, etw. hervorheben

impact sth.
ing people are tired of over- gestions that low productivity , sich auf etw. auswirken
performing and overworking without additional and quiet quitting are a result of management weak-
incredibly [In(kredEbli]
compensation and recognition of that extra labour.” nesses and an inability to communicate with and , unglaublich
Many agree that quiet quitting fits into the motivate employees. Houghton highlights the im- overall , Gesamt-
post-pandemic zeitgeist. The Great Resignation, a portance of dialogue: “So often, I see people afraid of
peers , hier: Konkurrenz
trend that began in early 2021, saw a fifth of workers raising work-related concerns with their managers,”
publicly traded
planning to quit in 2022, according to PwC’s Global she says. “They fear that the conversation will not go , börsennotiert
Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey. Statistics indi- well, that their manager will not be supportive, that
raise concern(s)
cate that the trend is likely to continue. if you express that, in some areas, you are unhappy, , zu Bedenken führen
Houghton believes that it is all interconnected. your manager will interpret this as you wanting to re-evaluate sth.
“I see the Great Resignation as an extension of quiet leave.” , etw. neu bewerten
quitting,” she says. “We have had the opportunity sales executive
to pause and re-evaluate what is important to us.” A Turning things around by talking [Ig(zekjUtIv]
, Verkaufsleiter(in)
UK survey by Aviva in 2022 supports her theory. It Matthew Knight founded Leapers.co, a community
found that more workers were attracted to their cur- that supports the mental health of the self-employed. shortage [(SO:tIdZ]
, Mangel, Knappheit
rent role for the work-life balance (41 per cent) rather He thinks that it isn’t just up to managers — we must
than for the salary (36 per cent) — in 2019, it was the all learn to work differently. “Working with strong supply chain
, Lieferkette
other way around. boundaries can be incredibly hard if you’ve never
survey [(s§:veI]
done it before. It takes self-awareness to understand
, Umfrage
Is lower productivity slowing the economy? what your effective working hours are, really good
ultimately [(VltImEtli]
In a Forbes article, management consultant Peter communication to engage with your team and ex-
Illustration: Daniel Stolle

, letztendlich
Cohan said that “investors seeking alpha should plain how you need to and want to work, and a rela-
up to: be ~ sb.
put their capital in publicly traded companies that tionship with your manager to ask them to help you , an jmdm. liegen
are more productive than their peers.” Productivity work well,” he tells Business Spotlight. “Ultimately, this workload
matters when it comes to business success. is a shared responsibility.” , Arbeitsbelastung

36 Business Spotlight 12/2022 CAREERS


Poor communication has a sig-
nificant impact on the workplace. A
2021 McKinsey study on the future
of remote work found that employ-
ees who feel more included in com-
munication are almost five times
more likely to report increased
productivity. This has been proven
to improve customer service or in-
crease sales, lower stress levels and
raise employee morale.
Managers need to improve com-
munication in the workplace, but
the past couple of years have seen
big changes in the way we work, and
we all need to learn to adapt. Manag-
ing a healthy work-life balance isn’t
easy, but if companies can do this,
productivity and workplace morale
will both improve.
morale
[mE(rA:l]
, Arbeitsmoral
CAREERS
DOES QUIET QUITTING MEAN WE ALL HATE OUR JOBS?
“If your withdrawal is a result of a growing
disinterest in your role, you should
consider looking for new opportunities.
We spend a great deal of time at work
— being disinterested in what we do will
have an impact on all aspects of our lives.”
Elizabeth Houghton, career transition
coach
“It’s unfair to be expected to go above
and beyond the job description and
working hours if the pay and career
trajectory don’t match it. You’re still
performing your responsibilities.”
Nadia De Ala, founder of Real You
Leadership
boundary founder
, Grenze , Gründer(in)
career trajectory go above and beyond sth.
[trE(dZektEri] , hier etwa: mehr Einsatz erbringen
, berufliche Laufbahn als von etw. verlangt
Work-life balance, or
simply a way out?
“Doing the hours you’re paid to work is
not lazy — it’s healthy. Establishing good,
healthy boundaries, such as switching
your phone off, not checking Slack or
email outside of hours, and being able to
step away from work at the end of your
day, is essential. Not only does it mean
you’ll be more productive the following
day, but it helps protect individuals from
burnout.”
Matthew Knight, founder of Leapers.co
hours
, hier: Arbeitszeit(en)
impact , Auswirkung
withdrawal , Rückzug
12/2022 Business Spotlight 37
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