“Quiet Quitting” Is a Dangerously Misleading Buzzword
If I get paid minimum wage, is my employer “quiet firing” me?
“Quiet quitting” is all the rage online for the past few weeks. Every big news outlet (like Forbes, Business Insider, USA Today, and The Telegraph) has a hot take on what “quiet quitting” is, and why it’s bad.
What is quiet quitting? In short: doing no more and no less than your job. Clocking in, doing the work that you’re paid for, and clocking out without doing additional unpaid work.
Quiet quitting isn't even close to quitting. It’s just not letting your employer get away with wage theft anymore. It’s doing what you’ve been contracted to do and no more. I find it despicable that so many outlets are publicizing “quiet quitting” as fact, instead of interrogating why we live in a society where so many workers face so much pressure to contribute so much more than they’re paid for that there’s a term for literally just doing your job.
The origin of “quiet quitting”
Many news outlets rightfully credit TikTok user @zaidleppelin with the popularization of the term “quiet quitting.” (I reached out to him for comment but haven’t heard back.)
