Quiet quitting refers to when an employee works strictly within their allocated hours.
Never arriving before their agreed-upon start time, putting a hard stop to their day at their agreed-upon end time, and never doing any work whatsoever when they are not on the clock.
On one level, quiet quitting not only seems logical but right, as people shouldn't be expected to work more than they've agreed to, particularly if their pay won't change.
Others, however, don't believe in quiet quitting, and will volunteer to go the extra mile, be it in hopes that they might get promoted, or find themselves in a less vulnerable spot should layoffs be needed.
Leading one to question if quiet quitting is advisable or illogical?
Redditor TotoMac1 was curious to hear people's honest opinions regarding quiet quitting, leading them to ask:
"What are your thoughts on 'Quiet quitting' / 'Acting your Wage'?"
You've Got To Pay Up If You Want The Upgrade...
"The phrase 'you get what you pay for' applies to employers too."
"They shouldn’t expect to get premium production at a discount."- useyourownnamebitch
Make The Extra Effort, But Only When On The Clock!
"I was in the Army when a Colonel told me to act my pay grade."
"Stop doing extra and do what my rank was assigned without the bows and ribbons."
"Take my lunch, quit working though it."
"I was worried about things that could wait until the next day."
"Work your wage, yo."- Potential_Sherbet294
It's Not Quitting If You're Doing Your Job...
"I’ve been doing this for years lol."
"Just common sense to me."
"I do what I get paid to do."
"I do my hours, no more no less."
"If I have to work overtime I’m claiming every single millisecond of it."
"It’s a job."
"Not my life."
"Had a situation once where someone called in sick and no one could come in to replace them."
"Which is not the end of the world."
"Had to stay 30 minutes passed my scheduled time to ensure everything was done, so I put that on my timesheet."
"When I came in the next day I saw someone scratched out my 30 minutes extra and put in my normal finish time."
"Obviously that pissed me off so I went to the boss and asked 'what the f*ck was this'."
"They said they don’t pay overtime and other sh*t.
"So I said 'well here’s what’s gonna happen'."
"'Either you pay me for the extra time or I’ll go straight to the department of labour and file a complaint'."
"Don’t think they expected a 20 year old, at the time, to stick up for themselves."- publicworker69
homer simpson work GIFGiphyNothing More, Nothing Less
"If you pay me $10 you’ll get a $10 employee."- CinnyButta
Don't Take The Bait
"Has anyone here ever worked somewhere, had a supervisor quit, then had to do the supervisor's job, but while being told they can't actually make you officially the supervisor yet, just so they don't have to give you a pay rise?"
"I've known several people who have had this happen to them, and they get strung along with the promise that eventually they will have the title and pay rise."
"No one should fall for it."
"Yes."
"I wholeheartedly support Silent Quitting and Acting Your Wage."- Stevotonin
A Name Change Is Necessary
"I resent the term 'quiet quitting', as a person who is protective of their time outside office hours."
"This doesn't make me a bad employee, it makes me a better one."
"I'm very good at my job, and am able to do it better than some in fewer hours, and I don't suffer from burn out because I make sure I get time to switch off."
"Measure my performance on the work I do, not the time I'm available."
"This term really is corporations responding to the mass realization that they can't bully and trick 1 person into doing 2 people's jobs any more."- AlterEdward
Bradley Cooper Teacher GIF by Legendary EntertainmentGiphyHard Work Should Be Recognized, Plain And Simple
"Pay peanuts, get monkeys."- SteliosCnutos
One Person Can Ruin It For Everyone!
"Just today I decided to do this."
"I get here 2 hours early to make sure everything is straight so that I can give my boss any updates needed from the night crew."
"I am supposed to have a 30 min unpaid lunch, I usually work through this."
"I will also stay later than anyone else just to cover for my bosses so they can go home at their normal time."
"I am hourly and get overtime so it worked out."
"I am supposed to only create the training material and make sure everyone is highly trained."
"This is an industrial environment so we take it seriously."
"It also causes me to have to come in on my days off sometimes to meet with trainees."
"I also deal with contractors which is something that no other person in my role has to do."
"This causes me to some days work from 5 am to 10 pm, I did this Monday and Tuesday this week already, as I am not allowed to work over 16 hours a day."
"I have never complained as the money was good."
"Today my department is told all overtime has to be approved daily."
"I asked if this included me and it does."
"Because certain individuals have been caught not working while they are on overtime, the entire department has been punished."
"I asked if I could go ahead and get my stuff approved as I get up and leave my house around 4:30am and I don't want to have to call him that early."
"I was told he sees no benefit of me coming in that early or staying that late."
"So I will only work my 8 hours, and I am cutting my phone off during my lunch break."
"I will not cover for them again nor will I work late to help get us back running."
"I have turned over the contractor paperwork and will no longer be handling it."
"Seeing as all that I do is not beneficial, it should not cause us any disruptions."- silentsnak3
South Park Cartoons Comics GIFGiphyCoined by corporations
"Quiet quitting was coined by corporate to make it sound bad and put employees who do it in a bad light."
"Simply put, it means doing exactly what you agreed to and what you are paid for."
"This is not quitting by any dictionary I am familiar with. This is plain and simple doing your job."
"Corporate 'culture' has it you have to work more than you agreed to, more than your contracted hours, more than you are paid for, to impress the employer, to "show you care" and other BS like that. People are gradually waking up to the realization that this is all unacceptable."
"If we flip this on its head, why doesn't the company pay me more than we agreed? Or why doesn't it cut an hour or two off my day's shift? I'm sure any corporate linguist could find a variety of reasons to respond to that, and those are the exact reasons why the employee should not work past their hours and pay."
"So no. 'Quiet quitting' doesn't exist, purely because it has nothing to do with quitting."
legrenabeach
I just stopped.
"As someone who used to bust my @ss and bend over backwards I stopped. Because I was laid off permanently while all the new guys got to keep their jobs because they were “cheaper” and all the promotions I’ve worked my @ss off for were all given to outside hires with no experience. So now I look at as “why bother trying?” There’s literally no incentive to try. Raises aren’t different for people who work harder anymore. It’s all based on how long you're with the company."
Apex_Gypsy
Force Accommodations
"I also feel like some jobs keep people in position where they are needed instead of letting them get promoted. Another thing is that I’ve always worked in places with high turnover. I’ve noticed that if you seem to care about losing your job and keeping them happy, they will walk all over you. They think they can treat people how they want and you’re not going anywhere. If you don’t bend over backward for them, they will do a lot more to accommodate you."
HagridsSexyNippples
No Thanks
"People who work hard and efficiently are punished with more work than they are paid for. No thanks. I signed up for specifically what I wanted."
PossiblyWithout
Life and Limb
"Quiet quitting sounds like come corporate BS to make workers feel ashamed of not giving life and limb for a damn company."
"Acting your wage is something a lotta people could use. Don't get me wrong if you work in a cutthroat industry where you need to put out 110% to chase the bag, go for it but when you're working at McD's for minimum wage you're better off saving your energy for some courses or even a trade school. As long as your workshare is done, you're not lazy for not doing more than you're paid for."
rb26enjoyer·
Make it make sense
"Why should an employer get more than they pay for?"
TalosBeWithYou·
"They never willingly pay more than they agreed to, why should you work more than you agreed to?"
Laxly
Ultimately, when people sign a contract for a job, they are agreeing to get paid for the hours they work.
Making one question how anyone who calls it a day when they've finished their hours is really "quitting."
One hopes employers read some of these thoughts and stories, and might begin to value the time and effort of their employees a bit more.