And believe it or not, 80% of quiet quitters say they have been promoted at work.
You’ve probably heard about the new–or perhaps not so new–phenomenon of quiet quitting. That’s when a worker performs the bare minimum of his/her job requirements.
LiveCareer, a career web site, did a study of the trend, polling more than 1,000 workers in October to get the details. A whopping total of 94% of respondents consider themselves quiet quitters.
Quiet quitting can mean a number of different things. In the survey, 45% said that to them it includes creating boundaries, 41% said giving up work, 39% said doing only the minimum required at work, 32% said prioritizing private life over career, and 21% said rejecting extra job duties.
Surprisingly, 80% of the quiet quitters said they have been promoted at work, and 77% said they have received a pay increase. Less surprisingly, 69% have been fired for quiet quitting behavior, and 74% have been criticized by their colleagues for it.
It’s no wonder then that quiet quitters aren’t advertising their behavior. Only 12% said they are open about it, with the rest saying they conceal it.
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Quiet Quitting Contradiction
LiveCareer points out an interesting contradiction. “People gladly declare themselves quiet quitters in the safety of an anonymous survey, but also admit to being critical of others who quiet quit,” wrote Agata Szczepanek, a career advice contributor at LiveCareer.
“Seems internalizing the concept is easy but escaping the pressure to comply with traditional workplace culture is a challenge.”
Meanwhile, the highest percentage of respondents viewing themselves as quiet quitters are those toiling in business and finance–99%. Conversely, the smallest group of quiet quitters is workers who have experience of more than 11 years in their field–85%.
Interestingly enough, a majority of colleagues of quiet quitters don’t mind working with them, perhaps because the colleagues are quiet quitters themselves.
A total of 38% said they want to work with colleagues who go above and beyond in their assigned duties, 35% said they prefer to work with quiet quitters and 27% said it doesn’t matter whether their co-workers are quiet quitters or not.
Quiet Quitting: New or Old?
As for the history of quiet quitting, 82% say it’s a new phenomenon, and 18% say it’s just the way people have always worked.
Workers aren’t oblivious to the fact that quiet quitting lessens job performance. A total of 75% said quiet quitting negatively impacts workplace productivity.
So what matters to people more than work? A total of 94% say mental health, 91% say physical health, 91% also say family, 82% say friends, and 70% say leisure activities.
While this sounds like a cliché, it’s all about finding a work-life balance. Many people likely want to know in their hearts that they do a good job at work, going above and beyond the minimum. But many also likely don’t want to work themselves to the bone, neglecting their personal lives.
Creating such a balance isn’t easy. Sometimes you’ll work too hard, and sometimes you won’t work hard enough. It’s not always your fault. But as long as you’re making an effort to sustain a balance, you can feel good about yourself.
