Quiet quitting does not work

Quiet quitting! Suddenly this became a prominent topic in the digital spaces, especially in TikTok. And expectedly, many “management and leadership self-proclaimed gurus began churning out materials about “toxic companies,” “work-life balance,” and reasons and tips on how and when to quit their jobs.

Bill Murphy Jr., the founder of Understandably and contributing editor to Inc., comes out with his findings through his article entitled: “A Gen-Z Worker’s Quiet Quitting Video Went Viral. Now He Says It Led to ‘Looming Fear’ and ‘Existential Dread.’” And the sub-title for his article goes this way: “Also, the work you don’t do doesn’t disappear. It falls on the shoulders of your fellow employees.”

Securing his permission to feature his article, here is what he says:

A Gen-Z employee whose video advocating “quiet quitting” went viral last year and has been described by some as patient zero for the trend is now singing a different tune after actually trying it.

Here’s what Zaid Khan said in his original short video on TikTok:

“I recently learned about this term called quiet quitting, where you’re not outright quitting your job, but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond. You’re still performing your duties, but you’re no longer subscribing to the hustle culture that work has to be your life. The reality is, it’s not, and your worth as a person is not defined by your labor.”

Khan later explained that he held a remote tech job with a Boston-based security company and practiced what he preached, “quietly quitting” for six months or more after the video.

“I shifted gears and just kind of tested the limits of how much I could get away with,” he told Insider. Eventually, however, reality hit in at least three ways – two of which he reportedly described in a follow-up video that is no longer available:

1. First, he said each day he became more anxious as he faced “looming fear that you’re gonna be found out and fired.”

2. Second, he seemed to struggle with the notion of continuing at his job when he wasn’t interested in it, or as he put it: “this broader existential dread of, ‘What am I doing with my life?’”

3. Finally, there was the realization that if an employee decides to “quiet quit,” the burden of their work doesn’t disappear; it might instead fall on the shoulders of other employees. Some of Khan’s co-workers expressed “frustration” as a result.

So, Khan, who in other videos says he was living with his parents and was thus able to save a significant amount of money while working for the company, ultimately quit his remote tech job with no other full-time employment lined up.

“Lord knows, I felt so lonely when I was in that situation at my last job,” he said in a video afterward.

I have to stop here and send my thanks and gratitude to Bill Murphy, who is very generous in permitting me to feature his article here.

Now here is my take on this.

In my training and speaking engagements, many young people would ask questions during the Q&A portion of the program. One question that is repetitively asked is, “Is it still worth operating in a ‘hustle culture’ striving to give your best at the expense of ‘burn-out’ and the loss of ‘work-life balance?’”

I can easily surmise that these young people must have bought into the ideas of the “self-proclaimed gurus” mimicking TikTok posts, rehashing and posting for the grand purpose of earning “like” and “followings” unmindful of the harm and adverse effects they impose on the young and inexperienced.

The thing with “quiet quitting” is that the person practicing this has a mere “job” because of the paycheck, and there is no deeper purpose beyond that. Productivity will always be mediocre; skills or competence should be developed; meanwhile, others who strive for excellence will grab opportunities for advancement and future success.

Quiet quitting is not an intelligent thing to do – no wonder more and more clients have been requesting me to do training on productivity and excellence. There is a need to convince the younger generation of the merits of progress and improvement and to resist the temptation of being mediocre by practicing “quiet quitting,” as the author of this concept honestly admitted. At least he is honest about it and quick to learn from his mistakes and will be on his way to recovery and progress.

One principle I rarely fail to teach in my engagement is this: “Just because you have a job, never fool yourself that you are working for somebody else.”

(Francis Kong’s podcast “Inspiring Excellence” is now available on Spotify, Apple, Google, or other podcast streaming platforms.)