With Gen-Z officially entering the workforce, older generations are starting to question the work ethic of these new adults. The term “quiet-quitting” has blown up on Tik-Tok over the last year, being used to describe the “laziness” of Gen-Z workers.
Quiet quitting is the idea of employers not going above and beyond for a job that pays minimum wage, and setting boundaries based around their work. Many workers have been stating that extra work that is done in the workplace, should require additional pay. Especially since most workers don’t know if their extra efforts are going to pay off at the end of the day, such as getting position promotions or more pay.
This tends to be a main talking point for the folks who state that quiet-quitting results from laziness. The argument is that not putting in over 100% of effort into your job will cause young workers to be unable to get promotions and move up in companies. But what they fail to consider is that just because they wanted to move up in the companies they work at, that doesn’t mean that every other young person does. Especially when they’re unsure if they want to stay at that company for a long time.
Many young workers have also stated that since they are only being paid minimum wage, which is already for many, not enough to survive, they don’t feel the need to go above and beyond. As well as fearing that they will never be rewarded for doing more than is required.
Several companies have also come out about their experiences with quiet-quitting and have claimed that workers not putting in their all, will cause their coworkers to start falling behind in their own work. But that is simply not true, as workers are usually independent in their work, and as long as the work is getting done, then those employers' decisions should have no effect on the surrounding employees.
Many companies also love to use the term “our company”, but what they need to realize is it will never be “our company” it was always their company; because while basking in the success of their companies, their minimum wage workers are struggling to survive off of their wages. CEO’s employees are not getting the benefits of owning a massive industry, so until they are, then it will never be “our” company.
Until minimum wage workers are treated like the backbone of society, don’t expect them to put in more than they have to. There are plenty of workers who are willing to put in more effort than most, but that doesn’t mean that every single employee is. It's not right to group an entire generation of workers into one label, just because what you think their doing isn’t right. At the end of the day, “quiet-quitting” is nothing but a way for employees to set boundaries with big corporations. As most workers are walked all over, and taken advantage of, especially when they are known to put in a lot of effort.
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Photo courtesy of Good Therapy
Gabbie Munoz is Editor-In-Chief and staff writer for The Lion's Roar. You can learn more information about the writer by clicking here.
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