'Quiet quitting': 40% of young workers do the 'bare minimum' while conditions remain unchanged

Fiachra Gallagher

40 per cent of Irish workers under 30 say they do the "bare minimum" to fulfil their job description while their pay or job progression remains unchanged, a new poll has found.

'Quiet quitting' sees workers performing the basics of their job roles, avoiding any extra workload unless a pay rise or promotion is in the pipeline.

Recruiter Robert Walters, who conducted the poll, said the results indicate a threat to workplace productivity.

The leading reason for quiet quitting is pay, according to the recruiter.

Suzanne Feeney, country manager at Robert Walters Ireland, pointed to the currently economic climate as a contributing factor in the emerging culture of quiet quitting.

"In all cases of economic hardship it is young workers who are on lower salaries who feel the financial burden more. Their lack of experience – exasperated further by the pandemic – puts them in a much weaker position than their older, more experienced counterparts when trying to bargain for higher pay," she said.

"'Quiet quitting’ is often a subconscious act borne out of frustrations toward the workplace," she added.

Due to inflation, young workers feel underpaid for the work they are doing, and therefore refuse to do more outside the parameters of their job description, the recruiter said.

53 per cent of managers who responded to the poll claim they are taking on more work because of a dip in productivity.

37 per cent of managers also claimed that remote working "favours" quiet quitter, while hybrid work models making it difficult to measure output.

A further 25 per cent stated that the flexibility to choose differing work patterns and hours means that there is no universal indictor for productivity, making it easier for ‘quiet quitters’ to go under the radar.

Ms Feeney added: "Business leaders can't allow 'quiet quitting' to become a norm – accountability is a central part of this. If ‘quiet quitters’ are benefitting from being ‘out of sight, out of mind’ then employers should not hesitate to make more office facetime mandatory."