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When Zaiad Khan posted a TikTok video in July, he had no idea the conversations his words would spark. “You’re no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life. The reality is, it’s not, and your worth is not defined by your productive output,” Khan says in the video. With that, the concept Khan raised—”quiet quitting”—quickly went viral. Since it was posted, the video has nearly half a million views and kicked off a flurry of response videos, think pieces, and media coverage about the new trend.
As the chatter around quiet quitting increases, employers need to understand what quiet quitting means, what it doesn’t, and what they can do to best address employees engaging in quiet quitting.
What is quiet quitting?
As quiet quitting gains traction, varying definitions of the phenomenon are emerging. Some define it as doing the bare minimum at work, while others say it’s about setting healthy boundaries at work and standing up to employers who expect employees to go above and beyond without additional compensation. Regardless of the exact definition, the underlying meaning is clear: employees are pushing back against an all-consuming work culture and prioritizing their mental health and their life outside of work.
“Quiet quitting means that employees work within their job description rather than going above and beyond to impress their bosses,” says Caitlyn Parish, CEO and Founder of Cicinia. “It’s a rejection of the hustle culture, which promotes performing as much work as necessary to earn that perk or the new promotion, with little regard for mental health, work-life balance, or any remuneration for the extra labor.”
Misconceptions about quiet quitting
Despite the name, quiet quitting doesn’t actually mean that employees leave their jobs. “Workers are taking back their extra time and their mental space to allow for more than just work in their lives,” says TikTok user Clayton Ferris in a video posted in August. “But there’s a misconception…that quiet quitters are lazy and don’t have goals—that’s not true. When you quietly quit, you can still be a high achiever, but you don’t have to stress yourself out and give up all the other joys in life.”
Some believe quiet quitting essentially means quitting a job—and they go even further, suggesting “it’s a step towards quitting on life.” But proponents for quiet quitting argue that it’s the opposite. Employees still contribute and succeed at work, but they draw boundaries to protect themselves from burnout and unnecessary stress. “I see nothing wrong with an employee limiting themselves to work that falls within the confines of their job description, especially if the purpose is to avoid burnout,” confirms Drake Ballew, Founder and CEO of Practice Health. “What concerns me is the impulse to frame such a decision as somehow ‘quitting.’ If you are doing what is in your job description, you are doing your job—you haven’t really quit.” In fact, many call “quiet quitting” a misnomer, and what people are, in fact, advocating for work-life balance.
Identifying quiet quitting in the workplace
Many managers want a list of telltale signs that employees engage in quiet quitting. However, signs of quiet quitting are often subtle and rarely accompanied by the drops in performance and productivity that people may expect. While some employees might disengage from meetings or seem less enthusiastic, others will work to establish clear working hours or refuse projects that they don’t have time for, all while continuing to produce high-quality work. Since quiet quitting shows up in many ways, managers can use anonymized surveys or one-on-one meetings to determine employees who feel burnt out or unengaged in their work.
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