Khaleej Times, Wednesday, Aug 24, 2022 | Muharram 26, 1444
Why viral trend ‘quiet quitting’ is taking over workplaces
Emirates: G.D., an expat working in a private
company in Dubai, used to give it her all and more to work: Weekends, public
holidays and extra hours almost on a daily basis. However, after realising that
none of those extra efforts materialised into career growth or better pay, she
scaled down.
“My peers earn about 50 per cent more than I do and get to enjoy time with their
families. I stayed on in the same company, and perhaps, am being taken for
granted,” she said. “I now work strictly within my work hours and take all my
days off.”
G.D’s case is part of a global viral trend called ‘quiet quitting’ that has
taken over video-sharing app TikTok and discussion platform Reddit. And
recruitment experts have warned that it is catching up in the Gulf region.
What is quiet quitting?
It is a social media trend, with thousands of content creators taking to TikTok
to share their take. Its definition changes, depending on whether one supports
it as ‘ensuring life-work balance’ or dismisses it as ‘people being lazy’.
The trend sees employees do exactly what they are hired for and not go beyond
the call of duty. So, no overtime without compensation, and no additional
responsibilities without a promotion. In this TikTok post, professional
networking platform LinkedIn explains the trend:
A Reddit post on the ‘Dubai’ community about the topic has both supporters and
haters. One said it is a “term cooked up by managers to label and punish those
that do not want to work over what they should”.
Another said one should work for salaries they aim to get and not for the one
they currently earn, and therefore, must go the extra mile.
Tibet Eğrioğlu, VP Adecco Group, a global HR solutions firm, explained to
Khaleej Times:
Adecco’s recent research suggests that employees are less inclined to stay
through “rough patches or even through good times if they feel low levels of job
security”.
In the UAE, employees seek social life after work hours. “They want to do the
bare minimum within their job description to avoid working longer hours,” said
Eğrioğlu.
Vijay Gandhi, regional director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Korn
Ferry, a global management consulting firm, said one factor encouraging the
trend is employees not seeing a future at their organisation. “Young employees
also only have Covid-era work experience as their anchor, a time that has led
workers of all ages to question what they really want to do professionally.”
Based on inputs from the two experts, here is why employees would not be
motivated enough to put in that extra effort at work:
Old concept with a new name“The issue of
employees being checked out at work isn’t new, of course,” said Gandhi. “For
decades, ‘coasting’ or ‘checked out’ were the phrases used by employees
doing the bare minimum. Multiple studies show that only about one-third of
employees consider themselves ‘highly engaged’ at work.”
Quiet quitting is trending now because of “how far the job market has
swung” in favour of workers over the last two years. “Coasting employees
aren’t worried if their bosses fire them — they’ll just find another job.”
How to retain talent
According to Eğrioğlu, companies must come up with “great retention”
strategies. “As we reset to the new normal, the future of work is hybrid and
new flexible work models can deliver great outcomes for business.”
Upskilling opportunities can also make a “big difference” for many employees
re-evaluating career moves. “We consider it good practice to give new hires
visibility of their next role and schemes like this should be more widely
adopted. We are thus providing staff with skill-based learning journeys that
help them plan for the next two-to-three years of their career.”
Gandhi said many organisations know they have a problem with employee
engagement. “They also know that even with the economy cooling, they are
short of talent in critical areas and can’t afford to harbour quiet
quitters.”
According to him, this is what companies must do: