The ‘Quiet’ Work Trends Speak Volumes to the State of Workplace

With each passing year, the workplace goes through trends. We’ve experienced girl bosses, hustlers, and solopreneurs — but 2022 is the year of the quiet quitters.

In this phenomenon, individuals choose to do the bare minimum, but they keep their jobs — at least until they find a new one or their current employer interferes. But, the key to quiet quitting is keeping your mouth shut. You come to work, do what’s absolutely required, and get your paycheck.

Recent assessments of the trend would have you believing people are simply doing this due to burnout or stress, but there’s more to the story. In fact, assigning all responsibility to the employee understates the real issue at hand. The workplace is changing with the times, but employers aren’t adapting. So, people aren’t expecting change.

These terms might be new, but they’re a culmination of decades of problems, and the fact that workers are calling themselves quiet has got a lot of people talking.

Quietly Quitting

The concept of quiet quitting started getting traction — like most modern trends — on TikTok when users started adding the hashtag in early 2021. This was a time period perfect for changes in the workplace. First, the pandemic changed a large number of work environments, then the job market rebounded in 2021.

If people were going to make moves, this was the time to do it, but many people were exhausted from the past year. So, to avoid burnout, they decided to float in their jobs. This meant doing exactly what was required to receive a paycheck without going above and beyond. People weren’t becoming slackers, because that would mean having to address performance issues. Rather, they wanted to avoid letting their jobs consume their lives.

For some people, this displays a lack of ambition; for others, it’s giving their employer what it’s paying for. In fact, 87% of employers have dealt with burn-out-related issues. If employees are accomplishing their job and maintaining a good work-life balance, where’s the issue?

Despite doing their job, many people feel they’re not doing enough. Up to 85% of people feel they have imposter syndrome at their jobs, meaning many people feel…