A new world of work 
29 April 2024
A revolution is taking place in the world of work, prompting employees to reassess their priorities and expectations. In order to continue to attract and retain talent, companies must boost their efforts and bolster their value proposition.
“Quiet quitting” is a trend that is increasingly making waves. But what exactly does it entail? It refers to a situation where a person does not actually quit their job, but gradually disengages with their duties.
Did you know?
A global survey conducted by the Gallup Institute found that people of all ages in the active population are falling out of love to some extent with their job. Only 23% said they felt engaged at work.
A new paradigm
In a world shaken by the Covid pandemic, geopolitical and economic uncertainty, as well as disruptive technologies, the reasons causing people to feel disengaged are both numerous and complex. The Gallup survey identified that the phenomenon has intensified because of unmet wage demands, expectations regarding recognition, diversity and inclusion, as well as the desire for increased well-being at work.
Employees want a better work/life balance, driving them to turn to remote working and asserting their right to disconnect. At the same time, they value social interactions and the team dynamics in a physical workplace, both essential to stimulate creativity.
They are looking for meaningful work and give great importance to the values championed by their employer. A study conducted by Mercer found that 96% of employees wanted their employer to implement a sustainable development program. They also expressed a need to enhance their employability, seeking to exercise their rights to training and professional mobility.
What companies can do
Given the vast range of employee expectations, businesses are rolling out a great many initiatives to attract and retain talent, which obviously include competitive remuneration policies, but also can involve covering tuition fees and implementing skills development programs.
They are also investing in actions that improve quality of life at work, such as quality catering services, flexible working hours, and environmentally friendly offices boasting a range of services, including gardens, break rooms, nursing rooms, silent spaces for people with autism, and music rooms. Businesses are working overtime to address quiet quitting. Time will tell if they are triumphant.
Taken from: https://servier.com/en/newsroom/a-new-world-of-work/
Have you heard about “quiet quitting” before? What do you know about it? Have you experienced it?
How has your working life changed after the Covid pandemic?
The truth is that I had never heard of it before, but while researching I have realised that in many companies, especially here in Peru, employees are overloaded with tasks that were not included in their employment contracts and if the employee does not want to take them on because they are not part of their job, the employers assume it as a lack of interest and end up dismissing them for ‘not fulfilling their duties’. This creates a feeling of job insecurity.
In my case, I work independently, as a therapist, so as a result of the pandemic, I had to reinvent myself (like many) and I started working online. In some cases it is very difficult (for example with autistic or hyperactive children) and in others it allowed me to work with children living in other countries whose difficulties were not complex.
Yes, I’ve heard about “quiet quitting.” It refers to when employees disengage from their work without actually resigning. They do the bare minimum to fulfill their responsibilities, often due to feeling undervalued or unrecognized. Personally, I can relate to aspects of it.
After the Covid pandemic, my working life has changed significantly. I’ve experienced a shift towards more remote work, which has given me greater flexibility in managing my time. However, I’ve also missed the in-person interactions and teamwork that a physical office provides.
I’m not sure if I heard about “quiet quitting”, but it sounds familiar. In this times, it’s very important that companies have differents things to retain employees. Also, is a reality that it just apply to big company, the public institutions can be gift thay kind of “facilities”. I have experience, parcially. When that happen I know its time to find another job.
In my opinion, with Covid pandemic changed the mix of face to face and virtual assistance.
I haven’t heard about that terminology, however, as long as I was reading the article I was able to understand the complete meaning of it. In my personal experience, I know workers who have lost energy to do their jobs. For that reason, they only tried to do the necessary tasks without engaging. That context could happen for different reasons.
In my opinion, one of the principal reasons are the bosses, if they are not empathetic and also disrespectful with their workers, employees will be disappointed and won’t have interest in doing more activities. Moreover, I think some people could consider as a kind of protest when employees do not change their negative attitude and not put their efforts to improve the setting of work.
For example, in my current work, I have seen a pair of workers who have decided to behave in that way, maybe because they don’t feel much comfortable with the surrounding.
On the other hand, about my working experience after Covid pandemic, I think some things have changed in my working life that there would have been impossible before. For instance, working at home. Even though, I can now do my work in a remote way some days, working hours has changed because in some cases I have received calls overtime or even some weekends, which is a negative symptom of the environment.
I have not heard the term as such, but I have observed many coworkers performing their activities just to comply and there is no commitment. They finish their working hours and if you call them they don’t answer or simply claim that they are no longer on the clock. Personally it has not happened to me, since where I have worked my commitment has always come first and I have stopped doing personal or family things to meet the demands of the job.
After the COVID-19 pandemic my job has changed because I had to learn to use technology to teach math. I had to look for strategies how my students can continue learning in virtuality: use of videoconferencing, recording videos on youtube, whatsapp, google classroom and other math programs. Now that we have returned to face-to-face, such learning remains and I complement it to my classes.