Quiet Quitting and Work-Life Balance

Lying Flat

There’s a movement growing among the workers of China called “Lying Flat”. The movement is a direct reaction against the relentless work culture of China. In China many companies operate under a 996 working hour system. This means many workers are expected to work from 9:00am to 9:00pm, 6 days per week. This adds up to a staggering 72 hours a week! This increased pressure on the Chinese workforce combined with the lockdowns and layoffs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic created a breaking point for many workers. Workers took a step back and started to consider what was really important in their lives and many came to the conclusion that what they really needed was to slow down, or in some cases stop completely (lay flat) and invest time in themselves.

Quiet Quitting in the West

A movement similar to lying flat is happening in the west. It has taken up a name that has a more corporate buzz word ring to it - Quiet Quitting. Despite what the name may suggest, quiet quitting doesn’t actually involve quitting your job. It’s more about quitting the idea of going above and beyond what is expected of or laid out in your original job description. There is often an unspoken pressure in many workplaces to put in extra hours, take on extra responsibilities, and be available beyond set working hours - and to do so without additional compensation. The implication being that it’s what you have to do to be seen as “a team player” or if you want to move up within a company to get a raise or promotion.

Quiet Quitting doesn’t mean that workers are slacking off or doing a bad job. In most cases they are probably getting perfect scores and their annual performance reviews, reaching and completing all the goals set and agreed upon the previous year. Workers have decided to set a boundary with their employers in order to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Leaving the office (or logging off if working from home) right at 5pm and shifting focus on their personal lives and relationships.

Studies have shown that it is actually more financially beneficial to get another job and negotiate a higher salary during the hiring process than to wait and hope for a raise or promotion at a current company. Worker behavior in the job market reflects this as well, a study on employee tenure by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the average tenure of workers ages 25 to 34 is 2.8 years. Older workers tend to stay in their jobs a little longer - workers ages 55 to 64 have an average tenure of 9.9 years. Younger generations of workers have started to collectively figure out that an increase in salary or a promotion isn’t a guarantee, no matter how hard you work or how dedicated you are to an organization.

Working to Live

The high powered corporate elite attitude of living to work has been glamorized in media for a long time. It looks as though scale is slowly starting to shift in the opposite direction - working to live. The idea of rising and grinding from dusk to dawn is losing its appeal for a large portion of younger workers. Making six figures and having a fancy title doesn’t mean anything when your personal and emotional life feel empty. I think workers were slowly moving in this direction already, millennials growing up during a recession and then graduating just to find it nearly impossible to get a job had already left them feeling disenfranchised. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit bringing layoffs and isolation in the form of working from home. Suddenly the already shaky ground beneath them had fully crumbled away - without the hope of stable work a generation had to find new ways to add meaning and value to their lives.

Nearly three years went by as young workers learned new skills, rediscovered old hobbies, and formed new online communities all from their homes. As we returned to the office it didn’t have the same luster it once had. This forced return to office culture despite being more productive working from home accelerated and birthed the Quiet Quitting movement. Going the extra mile at work didn’t hold any value when it could ripped away at any moment - the pandemic had clearly demonstrated that. Many workers decided to keep their heads down, do the minimum of what was asked of and expected from them and reserve their energy for other aspects of their life.

Whatever your reason may be for Quiet Quitting, don’t feel guilty for doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. Work just hard enough, do a good job, be proud of that and then go home. Spend time with your friends and family, develop relationships in your life that you’ve been missing, and discover ways to add value to your own life instead of adding value to an executives portfolio.