5 ms·

Quiet quitting is really a cry for help. Don’t ignore it

12 points by rustoo 4y ago

lethologica 4y ago
Notice that “pay your employees a liveable wage” isn’t listed as a way to address quiet quitters.
- _aavaa_ 4y ago
  Take it a step further back. Notice that the whole argument is based on the implicit argument that quiet quitting, i.e. doing only what you're compensated for, is a problem.
_aavaa_ 4y ago
> Quiet quitters have been called slackers and coasters. They’ve set boundaries, demanded work-life balance, and steadfastly stuck to their job descriptions. But make no mistake, this isn’t a passing TikTok trend. I fail to see how this is a problem. If you want your employee to do more than what the job description asks of them, or to sacrifice work-life balance you better be ready to pay up, and not with some snacks in the office, but with actual cash.
- PenguinCoder 4y ago
  The job description the company creates and designs anyway, establishing the pay rate for as it is. The employee gets no say in any of that, other than declining the initial job offer. Pretty damn one sided to start with.
  - jackvalentine 4y ago
    In every org I’ve worked at there has been a process for flagging that your job doesn’t match the description anymore and getting the pay rate reassessed. I have several times gotten permanent bumps and market loadings applied to my salary. Note: I am not in the USA.
  - _aavaa_ 4y ago
    Hence having even less sympathy for the company when they feel that it's a problem if their employees only do what's in the job description that the company themselves created.
- randomcarbloke 4y ago
  Which is exactly why the whole concept of “quiet quitting” is nonsense
- anenefan 4y ago
  In regard to quiet quitting, the term is insincere and probably doesn't reflect changes that have landed at many companies, where basically the top management have decided if they are paying x dollars a day, they want to get every last cent worths out and rather than engage with the work force directly, have headed down a path by applying a formula some bean counter or consultancy firm has helped them forge. Of course having someone constantly busy might seem smart, but if the worker feels they are treated no better than a robot, no time for creative breaks, then pretty soon there's a highly dissatisfied workforce, only those who are working towards (with plans to) the top of the pile are really engaging. It's rare (well for me) to walk into a shop and pay for milk and leave with an extra bonus flavoured milk as well ... or anything else, I get what I pay for. Sometimes people are nice and don't mind if they have time, to thrown in a little extra. As for HR reaching out ... some people don't really express themselves well or have any idea what "normal" should be. There's a big risk bosses like to paint a entirely different normal. The young may not know any better, any one struggling and overwhelmed, couldn't or wouldn't really communicate this. Sadly I was expecting the article to be a POV on those people who quit without fuss or reason.
multjoy 4y ago
>They’ve set boundaries, demanded work-life balance, and steadfastly stuck to their job descriptions That seems perfectly sensible. No, it must be the employees that are wrong.
anonreeeeplor 4y ago
Once you lose 100% of respect for the company it’s hard to work anymore. I did a bunch of work, hit a snag and asked my manager to remove it several times. They didn’t. So then I gave up and started cruising. I assumed they would surely notice : care : make adjustments. Nope. At that point I realized I had a job that didn’t matter, and my managers job didn’t matter, and my manager didn’t think their or my job mattered. In remote work there is almost nothing you can do. If you ask your manager and they don’t fix it; you are in really a lot of trouble. If you go above your managers head, you are playing with fire in a major way. If you sit there and wait, you will get blamed probably eventually. Given they have software to track how active you are; who do you think they will blame? If you said “management” ha ha ha. They will blame you and say: “why aren’t you scurrying around doing random stuff.” Remote work really hides a lot of very bad stuff and the IC at the bottom is in a very compromised position. If you have upper level management who are not engaged, and checking in at every level, you are very likely to get this result.
- paulryanrogers 4y ago
  How does in person change the situation? You can knock on your manager's door? Is there no phone number you can call if you feel ignored?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
yuppie_scum 4y ago
I can’t believe there are still people in positions of corporate leadership who believe this BS. Maybe C suites DO make too much money, it divorces them from reality.
- JoeAltmaier 4y ago
  Maybe? My sister was in the C suite for years. She struggled to get basic cost-of-living pay raises for the workers. "No money this year" they claimed, while their bonuses consumed 60%-80% of the profit of the company. They can be paid 10X to 100X of a worker. Maybe they are paid too much?
- ElfinTrousers 4y ago
  Sociopathy is far more common than many people realize.
fxtentacle 4y ago
This is by far the weirdest stuff I read today. First they mention that people quit in 2021 due to low pay, then "Employees disengage or resign when they don’t feel valued, supported, and respected. It’s up to the company to ensure they do." and then they go on to talk about transparency and diversity. But the entire article could be summarized as: People will leave if you pay them too badly.
olliej 4y ago
“Quiet quitting” is not a thing. Demanding unpaid work is wage theft and fuck any employer who claims otherwise.
Tanjreeve 4y ago
" Quiet quitting"is jargon invented by opinion columnists who's entire job is half assing some copy in for a couple hours a week from a sinecured position who have never worked a real job.
floppiplopp 4y ago
People are absolutely right when they try to get the maximum personal profit (e.g. time) for the least resource investment (i.e. working) from a company that employs them. It's thinking like a capitalist business, just on a personal level. I don't see an issue with that, on the contrary, it's perfectly acceptable and normal to do this. Be as efficiently lazy as you can for the maximum outcome, like a true capitalist.
ElfinTrousers 4y ago
Companies: [exploit working people for everything they can get] Also Companies: [surprised when power balance shifts and working people start taking their own back]

12 points by rustoo 4y ago

lethologica 4y ago

Notice that “pay your employees a liveable wage” isn’t listed as a way to address quiet quitters.

_aavaa_ 4y ago
Take it a step further back. Notice that the whole argument is based on the implicit argument that quiet quitting, i.e. doing only what you're compensated for, is a problem.

_aavaa_ 4y ago

> Quiet quitters have been called slackers and coasters. They’ve set boundaries, demanded work-life balance, and steadfastly stuck to their job descriptions. But make no mistake, this isn’t a passing TikTok trend. I fail to see how this is a problem. If you want your employee to do more than what the job description asks of them, or to sacrifice work-life balance you better be ready to pay up, and not with some snacks in the office, but with actual cash.

PenguinCoder 4y ago
The job description the company creates and designs anyway, establishing the pay rate for as it is. The employee gets no say in any of that, other than declining the initial job offer. Pretty damn one sided to start with.
- jackvalentine 4y ago
  In every org I’ve worked at there has been a process for flagging that your job doesn’t match the description anymore and getting the pay rate reassessed. I have several times gotten permanent bumps and market loadings applied to my salary. Note: I am not in the USA.
- _aavaa_ 4y ago
  Hence having even less sympathy for the company when they feel that it's a problem if their employees only do what's in the job description that the company themselves created.
randomcarbloke 4y ago
Which is exactly why the whole concept of “quiet quitting” is nonsense
anenefan 4y ago
In regard to quiet quitting, the term is insincere and probably doesn't reflect changes that have landed at many companies, where basically the top management have decided if they are paying x dollars a day, they want to get every last cent worths out and rather than engage with the work force directly, have headed down a path by applying a formula some bean counter or consultancy firm has helped them forge. Of course having someone constantly busy might seem smart, but if the worker feels they are treated no better than a robot, no time for creative breaks, then pretty soon there's a highly dissatisfied workforce, only those who are working towards (with plans to) the top of the pile are really engaging. It's rare (well for me) to walk into a shop and pay for milk and leave with an extra bonus flavoured milk as well ... or anything else, I get what I pay for. Sometimes people are nice and don't mind if they have time, to thrown in a little extra. As for HR reaching out ... some people don't really express themselves well or have any idea what "normal" should be. There's a big risk bosses like to paint a entirely different normal. The young may not know any better, any one struggling and overwhelmed, couldn't or wouldn't really communicate this. Sadly I was expecting the article to be a POV on those people who quit without fuss or reason.

multjoy 4y ago

>They’ve set boundaries, demanded work-life balance, and steadfastly stuck to their job descriptions That seems perfectly sensible. No, it must be the employees that are wrong.

anonreeeeplor 4y ago

Once you lose 100% of respect for the company it’s hard to work anymore. I did a bunch of work, hit a snag and asked my manager to remove it several times. They didn’t. So then I gave up and started cruising. I assumed they would surely notice : care : make adjustments. Nope. At that point I realized I had a job that didn’t matter, and my managers job didn’t matter, and my manager didn’t think their or my job mattered. In remote work there is almost nothing you can do. If you ask your manager and they don’t fix it; you are in really a lot of trouble. If you go above your managers head, you are playing with fire in a major way. If you sit there and wait, you will get blamed probably eventually. Given they have software to track how active you are; who do you think they will blame? If you said “management” ha ha ha. They will blame you and say: “why aren’t you scurrying around doing random stuff.” Remote work really hides a lot of very bad stuff and the IC at the bottom is in a very compromised position. If you have upper level management who are not engaged, and checking in at every level, you are very likely to get this result.

paulryanrogers 4y ago
How does in person change the situation? You can knock on your manager's door? Is there no phone number you can call if you feel ignored?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

yuppie_scum 4y ago

I can’t believe there are still people in positions of corporate leadership who believe this BS. Maybe C suites DO make too much money, it divorces them from reality.

JoeAltmaier 4y ago
Maybe? My sister was in the C suite for years. She struggled to get basic cost-of-living pay raises for the workers. "No money this year" they claimed, while their bonuses consumed 60%-80% of the profit of the company. They can be paid 10X to 100X of a worker. Maybe they are paid too much?
ElfinTrousers 4y ago
Sociopathy is far more common than many people realize.

fxtentacle 4y ago

This is by far the weirdest stuff I read today. First they mention that people quit in 2021 due to low pay, then "Employees disengage or resign when they don’t feel valued, supported, and respected. It’s up to the company to ensure they do." and then they go on to talk about transparency and diversity. But the entire article could be summarized as: People will leave if you pay them too badly.

olliej 4y ago

“Quiet quitting” is not a thing. Demanding unpaid work is wage theft and fuck any employer who claims otherwise.

Tanjreeve 4y ago

" Quiet quitting"is jargon invented by opinion columnists who's entire job is half assing some copy in for a couple hours a week from a sinecured position who have never worked a real job.

floppiplopp 4y ago

People are absolutely right when they try to get the maximum personal profit (e.g. time) for the least resource investment (i.e. working) from a company that employs them. It's thinking like a capitalist business, just on a personal level. I don't see an issue with that, on the contrary, it's perfectly acceptable and normal to do this. Be as efficiently lazy as you can for the maximum outcome, like a true capitalist.

ElfinTrousers 4y ago

Companies: [exploit working people for everything they can get] Also Companies: [surprised when power balance shifts and working people start taking their own back]