Is 'quiet quitting' the right decision for your career?

By Chris Clarke

Quiet quitting has become a new trend among employees. Images: Adobe Stock/ViDi Studio

It’s been dubbed “quiet quitting”; a concept that encourages people to stop going above and beyond for their employers and instead do the bare minimum at work for the sake of their mental health.

The idea sprung to prominence in August when TikTok creator 'zkchillin' posted a video encouraging people to do less in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond… because your worth as a person is not defined by your labour,” the narrator said.

But how healthy is such an approach to work, and what else can people do to ensure they find balance in their lives?

A TikTok created by 'zkchillin' on quiet quitting has generated hundreds of thousands of views. Video: TikTok/zkchillin

Dr Kirsten Way from UQ's School of Psychology said COVID-19 had created “leaky” boundaries when it came to work-life balance, so managing the way work crept into our personal lives was really important.

“Boundary Theory proposes that the boundaries between work and home can be permeable or firm, and can be comprised of physical, temporal, or psychological borders,” Dr Way said.

“I don’t need to tell anyone who lived through the last two years that lockdowns and working from home made all three of these borders more leaky, meaning (rightly or wrongly) more onus was put on us to manage the boundaries between work and home, and some of us are better at it than others!

“More active management of work/non-work boundaries by both employers and employees is really quite urgent and critical. The trick is doing it in a way that encourages job crafting and doesn’t undermine the benefits of employee autonomy, or important worker and manager relationships.”

What can you do to ease the stress?

Dr Marissa Edwards from the UQ Business School said that people can consider 'quiet quitting' for many different reasons, and burnout and low job satisfaction can often lead to disengagement at work.

Dr Edwards said self-care was critical, and those who feel like they need a break from work should take one.

“Too many employees do not take vacations because they feel they need to be working all the time, but we know that regular breaks can have a positive impact on physical and mental health,” she said.

“Organisational leaders also need to role-model these behaviours and create a culture where employee well-being is valued. Ultimately, organisations need to recognise that having exhausted, stressed employees benefits no one.”

But what if people feel trapped in their current role and need other coping strategies?

These are Dr Way’s top five thought processes to help people manage their work situation.

First, think about your job design
Consult with your manager to see if you can craft your work to include:
a) a focus on tasks that you are good at that give you a sense of competence as well as those that provide meaning and purpose,
b) a focus on areas that allow you to have meaningful and authentic work relationships where you interact with others at least some of the time in person (Zoom fatigue is a real thing!), and critically,
c) strategies to ensure you don’t have too much work (i.e. you can actually complete it within your normal hours of work).
Work on your boundary management strategies
Are you a ‘segmenter’ or an ‘integrator’? Do you prefer to integrate your work with your home life in non-standard times and places, or do you prefer strong work and home segmentation? Either way, actively develop your boundary-management strategies and apply them with discipline. Leave work on time or, at the very least, have designated periods when you are not checking work communications. What tactics can you use to help you psychologically detach from work when you finish for the day? Can you go for a walk around the block, for example, or create some other physical or temporal marker that creates a ‘border’ between work and home?
Build recovery strategies into your work day and after work (evenings, weekends, and holidays)
The best recovery experiences work via processes of psychological detachment from work, as well as via a sense of mastery, relaxation, and control. They might include micro breaks during a work day, a trip to the gym, a social outing with friends or family, a TV streaming binge, or an online game or two. Model these visibly to others. Don’t forget the importance of good sleep hygiene as a recovery strategy too!
Does work align with your values?
Reflect on your underlying beliefs and values about work. Consider what your work identity is, and whether your workplace matches this. Do they align, or are they creating unhealthy heavy work investment? Do you have an underlying belief that heavy work investment is part of your work identity? How is this impacting on your well-being?
Consider your meaningful relationships
Has the pandemic meant meaningful work relationships have been reduced. What can you do to change this?

Could having a conversation with your manager help?

Ultimately, our managers play a role in our work levels and can influence the amount of work stress we have. Gone are the days when overworking inspires employees.

Dr Way said it was important for those in leadership roles to set a healthy example.

“While managers might think they’re doing the virtuous thing by working late, the more emails they send, the more they receive. The more they stay late to progress work, the more it creates work for others,” she said.

“Managers who look after their own health and well-being make for happier, healthier, more productive workplaces, so re-framing healthy work-life boundaries as being the hallmarks of a model manager/employee, as opposed to model employees being expected to work all hours of the night and day, can make a big difference.

“One of the core defining aspects of a psychologically healthy workplace is being able to openly speak about these issues with your peers and with your manager – this should be something openly discussed and actively managed as a team, rather than in a quiet way.”

Dr Edwards said it was important for people to remember there are always alternatives to staying in a job you don’t like.

Job vacancies in Australia are higher than ever before, and Dr Edwards recommended capitalising now.

“It’s important to recognise that we are in a situation now where many companies are desperate to find employees, so it’s a job-seeker’s market,” she said.

“However, this won’t last forever. Competition for jobs will increase in future. 'Quiet quitting' might seem like a good option now, but this may not be the case a year from now.”

What can you do to ease the stress?

Could having a conversation with your manager help?

UQ Expert Insights