London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Why ‘quiet quitting’ is nothing new

Why ‘quiet quitting’ is nothing new

The idea of slowly withdrawing from overworking has gone viral. This ‘quiet quitting’ has actually been happening for decades – but its newfound popularity says a lot about work now.

On a recent Monday morning, Gemma, 25, finally decided she needed to overhaul her working life. “I opened my inbox to a load of negative emails from the company’s founder,” explains the London-based PR worker. “I was then expected to deliver big results on a tight deadline. I’d just had enough.”

However, Gemma, whose full name is being withheld over career concerns, didn’t resign. Instead, she chose to remain in her current role; she performs her tasks, but has stopped going the extra mile. “I think it’s quite clear my spark has gone, and I just get by doing the minimum,” she says. “I used to be online hours before I started work; now, I don’t log on until after 0900. I used to work so late that I didn’t have time for myself; now, I close all work apps at 1800 on the dot.”

Gemma has ‘quiet quit’ her job, a move linked to a trend that first went viral on TikTok. The phrase was popularised by user @zkchillin in a July 2022 video that now has 3.5 million views, spawning an online phenomenon. “You’re not outright quitting your job, but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond,” he explained. “You're still performing your duties, but you're no longer subscribing to the hustle-culture mentality that work has to be your life; the reality is it's not, and your worth as a person is not defined by your labour.”

To Gemma, quiet quitting has captured the zeitgeist: employees feel overworked and underpaid in the wake of the pandemic and amid the rising cost of living. “I think a lot of people are fed up,” she says. “They’re realising they’ve put in a lot more effort than their salary shows: no one should be driving themselves to burnout for a wage that causes personal stress or worry.”

Quiet quitting has generated intense media attention, with mass coverage exploring the workplace trend. In many ways, it isn’t a new phenomenon: coasting, clocking in-and-out while getting the bare minimum done, has long been a facet of the workplace. For various reasons, discontented workers have always found ways to disengage from their job and still collect the pay cheque.

But the buzz surrounding the newly coined concept of quiet quitting seems to have particularly struck a chord now. Why exactly is that – and what does its popularisation say about our broader cultural attitudes towards work and our careers in the longer term?

Discontented workers have always found ways to disengage from their job and still collect the pay cheque


A decades-long phenomenon


The term may be new, but the idea behind quiet quitting has long existed, says Anthony Klotz, associate professor at University of College London’s School of Management. “Although this has come from a younger generation and in new packaging, this trend has been studied under different names for decades: disengagement, neglect, withdrawal.”

Workers have always looked to just get by in a job for various reasons, he continues. “There are many people not in a position to leave their role: they may have non-transferable skills, accrued flexibility and benefits they can’t have elsewhere or live in a small community with a dearth of other opportunities.” He adds that the economy can also play a role in keeping unhappy workers in their jobs. “Slowdowns increase the risk and cost associated with quitting, because of the weaker job market.”

In these cases, coasting can make sense for workers who feel they can’t progress, or no longer prioritise their career. “Always going above and beyond the call of duty consumes mental resources and causes stress,” says Klotz. “And there’s little reward for doing so if someone perceives they’re stuck at a company. So, quiet quitting doesn’t just speak to younger generations – it’s anyone who has ever felt stuck in a job but has little reason to resign.”

However, unlike coasting, an employee who quiet quits may not necessarily slack every day at work. Instead, Klotz says workers tend to strip back the above-and-beyond aspect of a job to its core nine-to-five. “Arriving early to work and staying late, helping a colleague out at the expense of your own tasks, showing as much dedication to your role as possible – these are extra behaviours that go the extra mile for an organisation, but can take a personal toll.”

Why ‘quiet quitting’ is booming


Klotz believes that the idea of quiet quitting is particularly resonating at the moment because of the pandemic, and the increased conversations around mental health.

In many instances, says Klotz, employees are taking action to stave off burnout. “Quiet quitting is effectively redrawing boundaries back to the job description so that people aren’t thinking about work 24/7. Instead, they’re dedicating time and energy to other elements of their lives that are more meaningful, leading to improved wellbeing.”

Although this has come from a younger generation and in new packaging, this trend has been studied under different names for decades: disengagement, neglect, withdrawal – Anthony Klotz


Working through the pandemic may also have caused a spike in employee disengagement, fuelling the quiet-quitting phenomenon. Jim Harter, chief scientist for workplace management and wellbeing at analytics firm Gallup, based in Nebraska, US, believes the trend is largely being driven by early-career employees. “Younger workers typically tend to report higher levels of engagement, but that's now declining,” he explains. “Following Covid-19, they may now have a higher bar than older generations when it comes to working for an organisation with purpose.”

There is also the sense of a deepening disconnect between employees and managers, says Harter. He cites June 2022 Gallup figures that show only 21% of 15,001 US workers feel their organisation cares for their overall wellbeing – as opposed to half of employees during the peak of the pandemic. This sentiment may have become even more acute as real wages tumble in the face of soaring inflation. “We’re seeing a cultural rift that’s pulling workers away from their employers,” he adds.

In Gemma’s case, her quiet quitting arose from underlying issues with her employer and feeling her job performance was consistently overlooked. “I’ve been unhappy for a while,” she explains. “The work culture at my place is so poor and toxic. Although I was always working harder and longer than my peers, my pay has never reflected that.”

Rather than force her way out from the company and potentially find herself in another job she doesn’t enjoy, Gemma is content to pause for the time being. “I think it would take a lot for me to make a drastic move,” she adds.

The broader implications


While pulling back at work is not a new concept, Klotz believes the current quiet-quitting phenomenon taps into a wider shift in how employees are approaching their careers following the pandemic. Rather than a rebellion against work in itself, it’s a rejection of long workdays, unpaid overtime and always-on presenteeism in service of an organisation.

Instead, many employees are seeking to redefine the lines between their working and personal lives to benefit themselves. “We’re seeing a moment of reprioritisation with quiet quitting: the shrinking of work in people’s lives to make room for family, friends and hobbies,” says Klotz. “People want a career, but they want rich, healthy lives outside of work, too.”

For Gemma, quiet quitting has meant she’s been able to psychologically recover from a high-pressure job, deepen her passions and develop a side gig: after learning to crochet in recent months, she now sells her designs online. She’s content to make this her main focus for the foreseeable future. “I used to worry that I’d get in trouble or that my colleagues would hate me if I didn’t go above and beyond,” she explains. “Now, I’m spending time developing side hustles that are much more rewarding than my nine-to-six job. I feel much less stressed and anxious about work.”

The massive reaction to quiet quitting speaks to a broader, pandemic-fuelled trend: employees in many cases are reassessing what work means to them, and how much space it should occupy in their lives. “I really believe we need to get past the concept of always being ‘on’,” says Gemma. “There’s more to life than achieving a KPI.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×