Is Quiet Quitting Disrupting the Job Market?

Short video, big debate: In the summer, a user posted a 17-second video on Tiktok. Regarding everyday scenes, he explains in English: “I recently learned the term Quiet Quitting. You don’t quit your job, but you say goodbye to the idea of ​​always exceeding the requirements. You still do your duties, but you don’t feel. more like a mindset that dictates work is your life. “

Millions of people have seen the clip. The term quickly made a career on the internet – hundreds of thousands have discussed it on networks like Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin, especially Generation Z and younger millennials. Major newspapers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have also addressed the topic. But what exactly is the background of Quiet Quitting? And does the phenomenon have the potential to turn the German labor market upside down?

Literally translated: silent resignation

Quiet Quiting literally means silent termination. However, this has nothing to do with inner resignation, which is especially known to occupational psychologists and means extended rejection to work. Many, on the other hand, understand that the trend is about defining boundaries. This does not exclude benefits, but only within the agreed framework. Without special and extraordinary tasks in the evenings and on weekends. Silence-recognition is therefore often referred to as a service to the government.

“We are getting even closer to what is actually meant when you imagine: these are the job beginners,” says youth researcher Klaus Hurrelmann. In companies they come across a tradition of work ethic, work pace and work style shaped by the older generations. “And somehow they don’t find it convincing and good.” Hurrelmann assumes that this will touch the ropes of many young people, including in Germany.

This attitude is very different from that of many older people. “Here it was said again: the work goes on, we must persevere and put the family back if necessary”, says the researcher. But the kids are afraid of being exploited 24 hours a day. “They prefer to close the bulkheads in good time, so they cut their jobs and invest in their quality of life.”

Favored by the current labor market situation

The trend in Germany is favored by the current labor market situation. There is almost full employment – also evidenced by the October labor market data, which will be presented on Wednesday. Many companies are desperately looking for skilled workers. According to data from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), there were 1.9 million vacancies in the second quarter of this year, more than ever. At the same time, baby boomers are gradually leaving the world of work. According to a study by the German Institute of Economics, there could be a shortage of over three million workers by 2035.

The following years cannot bridge this gap: an imbalance arises. “The skilled young people feel it. And they notice it: the market has transformed, the market power is increasing, the power of the labor market, so to speak. Now it’s their turn,” says Hurrelmann. This is an impertinence for many companies.

“During the debate, we have already heard statements from corporate executives who have reacted in a very offensive, moralistic and derogatory way,” says Hurrelmann. But this doesn’t affect the nerve at all. Rather, companies should react with attention and interest, allow room for maneuver, arouse motivation and offer accountability. “But this can be solved,” the researcher said.

Silent cessation has not yet been systematically studied. According to the Gallup constituency, only about one-third of all workers in the United States are still in their jobs. A good 50 percent worked to govern. There is a decline in the commitment and satisfaction of employers, especially among the under 35s. A study on the careers of the insurer HDI showed that the commitment to work in Germany is decreasing, especially among boys: 58 per cent of those under 25 said they could not imagine life without a job, in 2020 it was 69 per cent.

However, IAB labor market researcher Enzo Weber has his doubts that the Tiktok trend has much in common with the reality of the German job market. “The desire for working hours has not changed at all. So that people today somehow no longer want to work and want to work less is not obvious when a representative survey is collected,” he explains. According to Weber, other indicators in his field, such as the share of part-time and the number of overtime hours worked, do not yet indicate such a trend.

Don’t work less, work differently

According to Weber, the new generations do not want to work less, but in a different way: “People today have different and sometimes higher needs. They want more individual working hours that fit more into their lives and not vice versa.” The same goes for the workplace. After the experiences of the corona pandemic, mobile work is a standard requirement that no employer can avoid in corresponding jobs.

“So the requirement is not that every company has to install any kind of feel-good environment. These are Silicon Valley clichés that German midsize companies don’t have to contend with,” Weber said. The first priority is practical questions, such as whether you can make a career with 35 hours per week, adapt working hours flexibly and have a say in the content of the job. “So the wishes and demands are there, but they don’t seem to be well described with Quiet Quitting,” he sums up.