Quiet quitting! I should have known something was up when I saw a group near the watercooler whispering about quietly quitting.
To be honest, I would have thought they were actually quitting. What I now find is 7 people among various teams not going above and beyond what is expected of them.
In our parents’ age, you saw employees go out of their way to help others, taking on more responsibilities and giving it their all. Now, it seems like I’m the only one who wants the stamp of “exceeds expectations” at my review call. Suddenly, all my friends at work seem to be looking for ways to do less, while complaining about how hard they’ve been working. Ironic isn’t it? People are just being lazy. It’s unbelievable how they’re happy with just a “meet expectations” review. How do they perform the bare minimum at work and sleep peacefully at night?
I’ve been trying to schedule meetings all day, and it’s impossible. All of a sudden, the word “boundaries” is being thrown around a lot. How will we ever get work done at this rate, Rahul? With how things are going, I might as well be tempted to quit myself. And no, not quietly like my cowardly colleagues, but loud and noisy quitting. I’m taking, overturning my work desk, breaking my laptop and burning the office to the ground.
What does “act your wage” even mean? What has the world come to these days? Why is the media going out of its way to demonise everyone who wants to work for more hours than required, only to come home to have enough time to have a quick dinner and no social life? Work is my social life!
If I wanted to “smell the roses” once in a while, I’d get a room freshener, and not actually leave my work, go out and smell actual roses. Isn’t this “quiet quitting” phenomenon just plain entitlement? Yeah, maybe if you still live with your parents and you’re some kind of a trust-fund baby, or if you’re already in a senior position where you can slack off a little, you might be able to afford to “quietly quit”. The rest of us still need to work day in and out to actually land that promotion or raise, right?
Look, I don’t mean to glorify or promote hustle culture. Burnout is real, and I don’t think you need to be killing yourself over your job. Sure, delusional CEOs may promote 18-hour working days, but that’s not what I’m for. Perhaps work shouldn’t define us, but can it no longer give you Purpose?
Why is loving your job getting such a bad rep? If you aren’t going the extra mile, how are you ever going to be worth the growth your career could see? Why can’t I be giving it my all and going above and beyond what is expected of me within the 9-5 period. Is that such a crime? If anything, ‘quiet quitters’ are working for a healthy 30 minutes, and complaining about being eXhAuStEd. You know who’s exhausted? Me! Because everyone has dumped their work on me, because I don’t have boundaries. But, I still love it.
Honestly, this whole trend of having a ‘soft life’ and striving for mediocrity (would you believe it?) is giving me Side-Character vibes. I’d rather be the Main Character, and be the last one standing if that’s what it's going to take. I’ll work for my cake and eat it too.
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