Script:  Quiet quitting

Hi everyone, how are you?

Today I am going to talk about quiet quitting. It is a new term that I just learnt last weekend when I was looking up for new topics for my work.

Quiet quitting refers to doing the minimum requirements of one’s job and putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary. That means no working overtime or attending non-mandatory meetings, and not checking work emails or answering work-related phone calls in their own time. “Mandatory” means required, something you have to do. It is not clear who invented the term "quiet quitting," but it has become a popular topic on the social media site TikTok.

To me, quiet quitting is not the same as slacking off. Slacking off is when a worker is working less hard or less than what is required.  Slacking off is not good, but quiet quitting doesn’t sound like a bad trend. The worker is trying to find a balance between work and life. Work is not your life, and it shouldn’t be. Only doing what you need to do at work is normal, only the term itself is new.

The reaction of managers to the phenomenon has been mixed. A phenomenon is a fact or situation that sometimes nobody knows how it begins. Some managers have been tolerant, in part because the tight labour market makes hiring difficult, so it is hard to replace these quiet quitters, at least for the time being. Others have responded to quiet quitting by quietly, or loudly, firing employees whom they see as slacking off. In fact, “quiet firing” has become a buzz phrase. A buzz phrase is a word or phrase, that is fashionable at a particular time or in a particular context. Quiet firing is making a job so unrewarding that the employee will feel compelled to resign.

This term, “quiet quitting”, has expanded from meaning doing the minimum work in the office, to meaning doing the minimum work in a romantic relationship. “Quiet quitting” or “quiet dumping” is when your partner chooses to only do the bare minimum required to date you without you breaking up with them. They're no longer going above and beyond for you, they've lost interest but they don't want to be the one to break it off.