Welcome back to this show.
You know, just yesterday on this show
we talked about a trend that's going
crazy on Tik T.O.K. Quiet. Quitting.
We thought it deserved a deeper look.
And here's the video that kicked it all off.
I recently learned about this
term called quiet quitting,
where 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.
What a concept, right?
Closing your laptop at 5:00 o'clock
only doing your assigned tasks,
not answering your phone on your own time,
what it's everything that goes
against what we've been taught.
And that's precisely the problem
according to media consultant
and labor coach Ed Zitron.
This idea of quiet quitting has
really struck a nerve right now.
Why do you think that is?
Because it's an insane
term that means nothing.
It says that people are quitting their
jobs when they're still doing their jobs,
and for some reason almost
all coverage of it is saying,
well, the workers are clearly
doing something wrong,
despite literally doing
it right and never asking.
What are the bosses asking them
to do and why do they think
they're justified in asking them?
There's been a lot of conversation
around that right now about isn't this.
Just like healthy boundaries.
So where do you think the term comes from?
So I think the term comes from an
overwhelming anxiety from management that
they're losing control of the workforce.
Same thing when you had the massive anti
remote push 2021 through early 2022.
It is this concept that bosses
know without the office.
It's very tough to maintain control and
get people to do more than they were paid
for because quite frankly all the quiet
quitting is is bosses getting upset,
they're not getting free labour.
It's nothing to do.
Book is all creating healthy boundaries,
by which they mean doing the work they're
assigned and not arbitrarily taking on
more responsibility for no incentive.
Yeah. Which is, I think,
something that I don't know,
at least my generation did a lot
and was told it was normal to do.
And what's interesting is this term
is really caught on, on Tik T.O.K,
where you see a lot of Gen Z,
and that's where the term
kind of got its traction.
So do you think this is a generational thing?
Lindsey and millennials have a generational
awareness of the problems of labour,
partly because if you think about
millennials, I came to America in 2008,
massive financial crisis.
We saw another sort of recession within
that period leading up to the pandemic,
which was obviously a
horrible financial crisis.
Millennials grew up watching this
very clear and stark suggestion
that capitalism will always win.
Companies are better than people,
and Gen Z are literally growing up in this.
So yes, Gen Z is.
More than likely willing to
speak to this awareness of hey,
this seems like a very unfair deal.
I'm meant to be here 9:00 to 6:00 PM,
but people look at me like I
shot someone if I leave at 6:00.
Yeah, people.
People get angry at me if I don't
pick up the phone at 8:00 PM.
That doesn't seem like it's
part of my responsibilities.
And bosses are saying,
hey,
stop asking questions.
You know what drives me crazy
and I think it's so bananas.
When I look back on it is.
I've been a journalist for really
years and there is a time before
the pandemic and this is right
before up until the pandemic.
That if you called in sick you would
get a guilt trip for calling in sick.
And and quite frankly,
imagine flipping the script on this.
I am at work and I think I would love $100.
I go to my boss and I say,
can I just have 100 bucks and they look at
me and they consternation on their face?
And they say, why would I give you that?
I hands on my hips like you know,
go above and beyond for me.
What the hell? This is quite firing.
I would seem like a crazy
person but it's the same thing.
It is the same, just inverted.
Bosses are just saying,
why are you not doing more for less,
but for the most part,
capitalism has given up on
mentoring and training young people
and giving them a career path.
So quite frankly,
why would you go above and beyond?
It doesn't appear that hard
work gets you there
with this idea of quiet quitting
when everything is at our fingertips
when everything our emails or
text messages on our phones.
How do we take that moment
to say sorry, Charlie, I'm
out. We shouldn't have to.
And it's ridiculous that workers are being
made to obviously just don't respond.
And yeah, you run the risk of
being fired if you have a bad boss.
It sucks. In my own company,
I if I contact anyone after 6:00 PM,
their time zone,
I feel like I've stabbed myself in the chest.
I feel awful for it because I would
not want them to do the same thing to me.
Yeah, and with clients saving.
Establish the same boundaries,
just very firmly.
I also happen to run my company
so I can do this in many cases.
It's borderline impossible for
workers to establish these boundaries
and deeply unfair to make them.
Corporations, bosses, managers.
They are the ones responsible.
They are the ones who should not be
sending a nasty gram at 6:00 PM.
They are the ones who shouldn't
be contacting you on the weekend,
and I don't care if you put
sorry for a late e-mail.
You're not sorry you sent it.
Yeah, schedule it for later.
These tools exist, you can schedule.
Messages on Slack,
two stop being lazy.
How do we start this
conversation with our bosses?
Show them every article about it and
say this is wrong and start an actual
company wide conversation about it.
If a company cares about this,
they shouldn't be thinking.
My workers are quite quitting.
They should be thinking I'm
failing at incentivising work.
I am a bad boss because that's what you are.
If you believe quite quitting is
the responsibility of the worker.
Preach, Ed. Preach.