Burnt-out workers resort to ‘quiet quitting’

A Durban auditor has stopped replying to work emails and mutes her WhatsApp office group after hours.

She is no longer “helping out because we are short staffed” either.

The woman, who has been employed by a global firm for 14 years, believes she has gone over and above her duties too often. She is part of a global phenomenon known as “quietly quitting”.

Some say this means doing the bare minimum at work or just not going the extra mile; others say it’s about setting healthy boundaries.

Quiet quitting has gained momentum and SA is not immune to the viral trend popularised by TikTok user @zkchillin in a July video.

“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 mentality that work has to be your life; the reality is it’s not, and your worth as a person is not defined by your labour,” he explains.

“I do not usually follow any TikTok trends but when I watched the video, it resonated with me,” said the auditor, who asked not to be identified by name. “I realised that quiet quitting was a trend I could get behind because I think I am suffering from burnout.

“When we worked from home, we were accessible all the time. I would receive instructions via WhatsApp on a Sunday. Before technology, those instructions would be given on a Monday in the office during working hours. How could I ignore them when my status would show I was online?

“When we returned to the office this year, management expected the same thing.

Even after working in the office during the day, I was still working at home. I could no longer do it,” she said.

“Of course, I am terrified that if I constantly say no, I will be fired but I have to protect my mental health.”

Head of healthcare leadership at Stellenbosch Business School, Prof Renata Schoeman, said quiet quitting was initially used to describe laying down healthy boundaries and aiming for work/life balance, but that it had “become a bit distorted”.

“The quitting part is a dangerous thing. Maybe it should have been quietly claiming back your boundaries, but there should have been a healthier way of expressing it, so though the original intent of having better boundaries, not becoming a workaholic and having work/life balance is good, the way that it is encouraged is not ideal,” she said.

Though workers assume it can improve mental health, it may actually have the opposite effect.

“Quiet quitting can benefit in terms of not being overloaded and feeling you have more power and control in terms of your boundaries, but it can have negative consequences. Part of us doing our job has to do with our values of integrity, commitment and finding meaning in what you do,” said Schoeman.

Quiet quitting also comes with the risk of losing performance bonuses and your job.

Durban-based attorney and specialist in employment law, Dunstan Farrell, said simply going to work and doing the bare minimum does not serve the interests of the employer or the employee.

“An employee who does the bare minimum will not be given a good reference and will not be considered for promotion or salary increases.”

Employees aren’t not contractually entitled to an increase unless stipulated, he said, adding that refusing to work overtime could be seen as protest action.

A report published in the Harvard Business Review this week says research has found that quiet quitting had more to do with managers than employees, and that the term was “a new name for an old behaviour”.

“Our data indicates that quiet quitting is usually less about an employee’s willingness to work harder and more creatively, and more about a manager’s ability to build a relationship with their employees where they are not counting the minutes until quitting time,” they said.

Roxanne Baumann, a recruitment specialist at Mass Staffing Projects, said quiet quitting could affect job prospects.

“No company wants to hire people who will negatively affect their culture and the people around them. I don’t think quiet quitting is something you should be proud of. Companies are becoming increasingly aware of culture and investing a lot more in creating a positive culture.

“Proud quiet quitters have no place in a good company culture.”