‘Quiet quitting’ more than just a TikTok trend — it’s survival mode

UNSW Business School’s Associate Professor Mark Humphery-Jenner believes the buzzy catch-all phrase that has hijacked work culture conversations has its roots in shrinkflation and long-term workplace trends. 

The expert recommended that businesses not view “quiet quitting” as a new concept that emerged from a 17-second video clip that was published on 26 July. 

In that clip, the content creator called on people to continue doing their work but no longer subscribe to the “hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life”. 

Instead, Mr Humphery-Jenner called on businesses to view “quiet quitting” as the crystallisation of several factors that have led to employee burnout. 

He argued that quiet quitting was mainly the impact of an economic trend called shrinkflation, stating that “wage growth has not kept up with inflation, meaning workers have less purchasing power as we enter a cost of living crisis”.  

For perspective, Mr Humphery-Jenner cited the latest economic data that showed the shrinkflation trend. “This has become a significant issue in 2022, where inflation has soared, and wages have only increased marginally. Consumer price index (CPI) inflation recently hit 6.1 per cent,” he said.

Furthermore, he cited forecasts that indicated conditions are only set to get worse for employees: “The Australian Treasurer – Jim Chalmers – indicated it could soon rise to 7.5 per cent. On the other side, wage growth has stalled, increasing only 2.4 per cent.” 

Interestingly, the expert used Tim Tams to further explain it, outlining that “shrinkflation involves keeping the price the same but reducing the quantity supplied. So, the price of a packet of Tim Tams might not change, but the buyer will get fewer biscuits per dollar.” 

He added that declining real wages — and stagnant nominal wages — have led to this alleged trend. The expert also warned businesses that this could lead to labour force shrinkflation. 

“Millions of Australians are experiencing a decline [in] real wages. Employers have resisted increasing salaries, referring to increasing impacts on profits,” he explained. 

“When it comes to businesses creating an environment that is pushing people to ‘quiet quit’, we risk labour force shrinkflation. Wages stagnate but workers provide fewer units of effort per dollar.” 

This economic pressure on employees exacerbated an even greater problem when the prevailing workplace culture in 2020 and 2021 are taken into account, according to Mr Humphery-Jenner.

“During these years, companies often kept pay unchanged, reduced pay, or increased employees’ workloads and extended them to long hours,” he said. 

He highlighted that the pandemic had provided a period of rumination for employees and their worldview of work/life balance. “You have gone through the pandemic and lockdowns with increasing workloads, stress and damage to mental health, but with stagnant or falling wages. As you keep working — with no pay rise in sight — your work-life balance falls,” Mr Humphery-Jenner. 

With this, Mr Humphery-Jenner said that while quiet quitting is being framed as shirking responsibility — it’s merely a survival mode that employees adopt in the distressing workplace environment they find themselves in. 

“So, if wages are decreasing, then the only way for workers to maintain their sense of wellbeing? Work less,” he stated. 

This, he said, is where the quiet-quitting trend enters. “Trending on social media platforms such as TikTok, the slow-it-down movement of quiet quitting can be seen as a rejection of the hustle culture mentality that has ruled the roost for the past decade or so, particularly for Millennials and the emerging young people/Gen Z set,” he stated. 

He noted that workers are now “unsurprisingly” pushing back against businesses that seem to be taking advantage of them. The expert highlighted that this is especially true when it comes to highly skilled labour with outside opportunities.

“They know their market value and can see a tight labour market and can see how much value they have to give at a company with better work culture. Why should they give anything more than the bare minimum to a company that has failed to reward them? So they merely do their duties as per their job description but do not go above and beyond,” Mr Humphery-Jenner stated. 

So what can businesses do about quiet quitting? Mr Humphery-Jenner acknowledged that increasing wages would not be a one-size-fits-all solution. 

“Companies’ margins are under pressure, and it is not always realistic to expect a company to increase wages. This is especially for small and medium enterprises. Tying wages to inflation can also trigger a wage-price spiral,” he said. 

As an alternative, Mr Humphery-Jenner urged businesses to offer performance and value-creation incentives. 

“For example, if that employee creates, sells, or runs a product that might create value, provide commissions, a slice of revenue, or a slice of gross profits. Or, if doing a better job — which takes more effort — helps the bottom line, incentivise that effort that increase job satisfaction,” he advised. 

Mr Humphery-Jenner also said that businesses should not fear quiet quitting and warned ignoring the issue will only lead to their eventual downfall. 

“Companies should not bury their head in the sand when faced with quiet quitting. If skilled employees are balking at falling wages, increased workload demands, and are less willing to work additional hours, ignoring the problem will make it worse. Top talent will leave. And this ultimately will harm the bottom line. 

“Instead, they can be part of the solution and can grow the pie for themselves and talented workers. But ignoring workers’ concerns will undermine profitability long term,” he concluded.