Word on these corporate streets is that the employee market has changed. People are calling out more. People are demanding more pay for the same jobs. Employees are less compliant and less reliable. Employees are now only doing the bare minimum. People aren’t going above and beyond their job description. Nobody wants to take their work home. “Quiet quitting” is a term that was coined by an expert, organizational psychologist Anthony Klotz.  

In reality, they aren’t quitting jobs, they’re quitting work environments, their bosses, and bad relationships with money, stress, and time. Employees are prioritizing a work life balance. People are tired of working through the kid’s recitals and missing the birth of their children, for employers who can’t even remember their names. The importance of physical health and mental health is being acknowledged in ways that it hasn't before. Individual identity and self-care aren’t taboo anymore. These aren’t the busy little worker bees of the past. Employees are requesting respect and consideration, and compensation is up for negotiation these days as well. With record profits for hundreds of companies, and inflation through the roof, the math ain’t quite mathin’.   

When people say they're quitting their bosses, what does that even mean? Think “Horrible Bosses” but less celebrity and no murder, and the movie never ends. Yikes. In some instances, it means that the company they work for is not the issue directly. The company culture, compensation, or any of that. It means that the position they’re in comes with a manager or supervisor that is typically disrespectful and abuses their authority. This is someone who does not show any appreciation for hard work, and goal accomplishment. This is someone who finds things to pick about when it comes to their performance. This is a boss who may even be downright disrespectful; this can include but not be limited to sexual harassment, physical violence, threats of physical violence, racism, quid pro quo behavior, and dozens of other things. Nobody comes to work to deal with that stuff, we spend most of our time during the day at our jobs. Aren’t they supposed to be some sort of safe space too?  

Oftentimes on top of bad bosses, there is no respect for the work life balance of frontline employees. The only people who get to have vacations are executives. And they aren’t penalized for them. Even “approved absences” like doctor’s appointments, or unavoidable absences like sick leave due to contagious illness or injuries can negatively impact employees. These absences are counted during their evaluations. They must adhere to attendance expectations during “blackout dates”. Frontline employees typically must work through illnesses around the clock including holidays, their kid's birthday parties, christenings, graduations, and a dozen other once in a lifetime experiences with their families. Employers are often unempathetic to the plight of those without personal transportation. Mentioning the use of public transportation or carpooling can be an instant disqualification during an interview. Frontlines hear management say things like, "Make it work. It’s not my problem that the bus was late, you should catch an earlier bus. Your emergency isn’t my emergency. (This gets misused often.) The company needs you. Don’t you think it’s selfish of you to call out knowing your team needs you? How many times are you going to have to go to the doctor this month?” Oh, the guilt trips! Employees have adapted the general mindset that employers don’t care about them. Their efforts of 110% often translate to needled evaluations, and 10 cent raises every year. This doesn’t incentivize loyalty to the company.  

Although it sounds rough, some employees must deal with all of the above, in addition to a hostile work environment. Yea, hostile environments include all the big ones, like harassment (sexual and otherwise), abuse of authority, and discrimination. They make things bearable because they have bills to pay or families to feed, mostly both. Employers and supervisors have been found to penalize employees and fail to support them when reporting the behavior by allowing passive aggressive behavior from management to continue. Microaggressions and character attacks become normal in some industries. 

As a result of having to deal with these things quietly, or not being able to address them at all, employers are noticing different behavior. These undesirable environments are having adverse effects on the employees. They're no longer giving 110% to their employers when it is not appreciated by way of reflecting compensation. Some people refer to it as the “bare minimum” others call it just doing what’s in the job description.” It’s a response to not being able to feed families or being resented for not being there during lifetime moments. People are walking away from jobs where they are unable to meet their own personal needs while meeting the needs of the company they work for too. Prioritizing physical wellness and mental health has become one of the top reasons people leave companies as well.  

As a reaction to the movement, employers are employing T.R.A.P.S. as well. According to Business Insider, “Nearly 10% of US workers are covered by training repayment agreement provisions, according to a study from the Cornell Survey Research Institute, first reported on by Reuters.” Companies essentially want to be compensated if you quit or are fired from the position within a certain amount of time, with no exception to hostile environments or personal circumstances. These contracts often overstate the amount it costs to train for the position to punish employees. This is another looming threat to the well-being and livelihood of employees who suffer in their work environments.  

Findings from workplacementalhealth.org, and their survey, Survey of U.S. Workers Reveals Impact on Productivity from Depression, provide statistics that may suggest this was happening before now and is not a tantrum from employees. This phenomenon can be traced back to mental health as a side effect of depression, called presenteeism, the state of being there but not getting anything done.  

“Survey results demonstrate that depression significantly impacts productivity in the workplace. Highlights of the findings are summarized below (Ipsos, 2014): 

• [64%] Sixty-four percent of survey participants who had received a diagnosis of depression reported that cognitive-related challenges, defined as difficulty concentrating, indecisiveness, and/or forgetfulness, had the most impact on their ability to perform tasks at work as normal. Presenteeism (being at work, but not engaged/productive) has been found to be exacerbated by these cognitive-related challenges. 

• The symptoms of depression are known to cause people significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, and other important areas of life, but many people may not feel comfortable seeking treatment because of stigma and fear of repercussions, such as losing their job or not receiving a promotion. 

• More than one-half (58%) of survey participants who had received a diagnosis of depression indicated they had not informed their employer. 

• [49%] Forty-nine percent of survey participants who had received a diagnosis of depression felt telling their employer about their diagnosis would put their job at risk and 24% felt it was too risky to share with their employer, given the economic climate.” 

According to the information from that survey and the testimony of dozens of employee accounts from social media, and even a Fortune article, people are scared to lose their jobs for wanting to better themselves and their quality of life. Is that so offensive to employers?  

These are the reasons why we need to look at this behavior. Who set the standard for what work ethic we’re supposed to have? You can thank Protestants like John Cotton, the Puritans, and the Pilgrims for that. Theirs is the work ethic that helped build American capitalism. They also believe in the spirit of sacrifice and delayed gratification. Oh, the joys.   Is it quiet quitting or is it a cry for help to the same companies who claim to be “good corporate citizens”? Are people being penalized for wanting a better position in life? At the end of the day, mistreating the employees is costing the employers in many ways. It’s literally costing them. Despite the traps they’ve set to deter employees from quitting. According to the same 2014 survey, at the time it was estimated to be about “$100 billion annual cost of depression for U.S. employers, including $44 billion a year in lost productivity alone (Beck et al., 2014; Stewart, Ricci, Chee, Hahn, & Morganstein, 2003). In addition, mental illness short-term disability claims have grown by 10% annually (Marlowe, 2002).” According to an article written from thriveglobal.com written by Korayem Razik, Business and Resilience Coach & Founder and CEO at U-Grow GmbH, “Absent workers cost employers around $150 billion per year, but those who came to work and were not fully productive cost $1,500 billion per year in the US, based on the BLS data." So, a major player in the game of resigning from these jobs is actually mental health. They say that the younger generation is more concerned with mental health and wellness than previous generations of workers. Mental health wasn’t a concern before? Why not?  

It’s evident that there are things that employers can learn when hiring employees and creating a work culture that motivates and nurtures employees as well. Instead of penalizing them for leaving, let’s take a deeper look at what they were leaving behind. Let’s continue to educate ourselves and destigmatize acknowledging needs and wanting to do what’s best as an individual. Let’s not call the movement “Quiet Quitting” let’s call it a movement where people quit being quiet.  

Resources and References:

1. Workers who switched jobs during the 'Great Resignation' are now worried about keeping their new ones

2. Be careful before 'quick quitting' and joining the Great Resignation. Your employer may hand you a bill for your job training.

3. 'Great resignation'? 'Quiet quitting'? If you’re surprised by America’s anti-work movement, maybe you need to watch more movies

4. Survey of U.S. Workers Reveals Impact on Productivity from Depression.

5. Presenteeism Costs 10x More Than Absenteeism. How Can Leaders Tackle This?