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Quiet quitting, which can be translated as 'quiet resignation', is giving the minimum of yourself at the workplace. This means that you don't do more than what is asked of you, you don't stay overtime, you don't go to receptions or team building... You come, work and leave.
We imported the term quiet quitting from the USA. Not only the term, but also its definition. Quiet quitting, which can be translated as 'quiet resignation', is giving the minimum of yourself at the workplace. This means that you don't do more than what is asked of you, you don't stay overtime, you don't go to receptions or team building... You come, work and leave. Enough so that you can't get fired because you don't fulfill your contractual obligations, but not enough for you to stand out and get promoted. It is the work style of a person who works for a salary, period. Women in Adria brings more about this topic.
Giving up or setting boundaries?
And while the majority of people who read the definition of this term think that 'everyone works like that', and the well-known slogan 'you can't pay me as little as I can work' is widely used, it seems that in the USA, and more generally in the West, quiet quitting is an expression of rebellion.
We are talking about countries where capitalism reigns longer than here. We grew up with the idea that it is important to work and earn money. They grew up with the idea that they are each other's competition and that one should work harder and better than the other. We do not expect much career advancement due to the high level of corruption. They expect progress because corruption is punished and sacrifice for the company is rewarded. Finally, guest workers regularly tell us that 'outside is not like here, it is done there.'
Complete quiet quitting looks like pure setting of boundaries, but more western looks like rebellion and giving up. In a world where hustle culture is glorified, a person who only works as much as they have to doesn't fit in. A person who will take sick leave, instead of coming to work sick and possibly contagious, even though he is harming others, does not fit in either. But - all for the company, promotion and prestige.
Energy directed where it matters
Quiet quitting happens to people who once worked way too much and only later decided to work only as much as they have to. It is the abandonment of overtime and excessive work. It is a rejection of the hustle culture by people who were part of it, and who want to prevent the burnout they know is coming, writes the BBC.
"The person actually resets the boundaries back to those set in the job advertisement so they don't think about work all day," Anthony Klotz, a professor at University College London, explained to the BBC. "They invest their time and energy in other things in their lives that mean more to them, which results in improved mental health."
Energy is directed into hobbies and close people. Work becomes only an accompanying content of life, not its meaning. The BBC also describes a real case of a public relations employee who decided to quit quietly. To protect her identity, she was named Gemma.
"I was unhappy for a long time. The working atmosphere in my company is bad and toxic. I always worked harder and longer than my colleagues, but it was never reflected in my salary," she explained. Instead of looking for a new job, she slowed down on the current one. "Life is much more than KPIs," she added.
Klotz notes that quiet quitting is actually nothing new or unusual. On the contrary.
"If you're always doing your best, work will drain you mentally and you'll be stressed," he explains. "This is not a phenomenon of younger generations. It's something that everyone who has ever felt stuck in a job that doesn't suit them, but has no reason to quit, has felt.
Why should we all 'run' after a career?
The fact is that not everyone has high career goals. For many, work has always been just a source of income, and for some it only became so over time. These people are not lazy, they just have different priorities.
Quiet quitting is not a rebellion against work per se, but against unpaid overtime, long working days and availability to the employer even in free time.
That's why if you too are in rebellion against unpaid overtime and long working days, are thinking about changing your job, or are increasingly entering the terms: My job, job hr, job HZZ, job Dalmacija, job Zagreb - contact us at PickJobs- in and we will do our best to find you a job according to your criteria.
"People want careers, but people also want rich, healthy lives outside of work," adds Klotz.
Gemma now has more time for hobbies. She learned to weave and even sells her work online. "Before, I was afraid that I would be in trouble or that my colleagues would hate me if I didn't do my best," she admitted. "But now I also work on the side and it fulfills me much more than my regular job. I'm much less stressed and not as tense."
