It is still unclear what has caused ‘quiet quitting’ and its sister idea ‘the great resignation’. It could have been the coronavirus pandemic and the sense of mortality it gave us. It could have been the increased importance that is being given to employee wellness. It could also be simply due to a belief that irrespective of how much employee compensation has risen, it is still not enough and will never be enough.

Another cause which has been mentioned is that work is becoming increasingly meaningless (again for various reasons) and, as a result, employee engagement is being lost.

Whatever the reason may be, ‘quiet quitting’ is now recognised as a worldwide phenomenon. We feel it in Malta as well. It is the attitude of employees of doing just enough to get along. One notices it through certain employee

behaviours, such as not volunteering to organise fun team-building activities at work, or refusing to do that little bit of extra work, or reporting sick at the first sign of a common cold or a headache. They are doing just enough to keep up.

There is then the sister idea of ‘the great resignation’. When employees cannot take it anymore, they resign and move on. They would not always have another job to go to, but still resign while waiting for the next job opportunity to come. Very often, they do not have to wait long as even in countries with high unemployment, employers still complain that they do not find enough people to work for them.

Employees are asking themselves the question: do we stay and just switch off, or do we move on to something else? At what point do we say enough is enough and move on?

How can one feel enthusiastic about their job if true work-life balance remains a mirage?

Either way, the answer to the question posed in the headline of this week’s contribution is: yes, ‘quiet quitting’ is a real threat that employers must contend with. It is intrinsically linked to a fall in job satisfaction. The fundamental reason for this is that essentially people’s relationship with their work has changed. This change in the way people relate to their work may have been triggered by the pandemic, but the root causes are much deeper than that.

Let’s face it, how easy is it to go the extra mile at work if a young couple knows that no matter how hard they work and how hard they try, they will never be able to own their own home unless their family can help them get on the property ladder? And how easy is it to maintain engagement with one’s job if work is repetitive and not challenging enough?

The coronavirus pandemic may have made us more aware of our mortality, and so why should I work harder? And how should I relate to work if after each and every crisis, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? What aspirations can I have at work if my work does not align to my values? How can one feel enthusiastic about their job if true work-life balance remains a mirage?

There are many who believe that ‘quiet quitting’ has been long coming, possibly since the 2008 international financial crisis. The pandemic seems to have accelerated the process further as it posed questions to each one of us and to which we had no real answer. Employees need to address it as should policymakers. We need to find a way of making people feel valued in their job and in society.