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Clocking Out on the Clock
A Nice, Quiet Vacation
The Déjà Digest
May 24, 2024
Background: If you believe some of the headlines you see, the modern workplace is witnessing a "Quiet" rebellion, as "quiet quitting" and "quiet vacationing" make headlines. And it’s those pesky millennials at the center of it again.
Quiet quitting refers to employees doing the bare minimum at their jobs, while quiet vacationing involves people silently taking time off without formally informing their employers. These trends have surged post-pandemic as workers reevaluate their work-life balance. This silent mutiny is reshaping the corporate landscape, signaling a shift towards prioritizing personal well-being over relentless productivity.
At the risk of giving millennials even more ideas for how to ruin the corporate landscape as we know it, let’s take a look back at another time workers lodged a complaint “quietly.”
Deja Vu: Work-to-rule is a form of passive resistance where employees strictly adhered to job descriptions and company policies, no matter how inefficient, to slow down productivity.
Historically, this has been a popular tactic among railway workers, and it's allowed workers to express dissatisfaction and demand better conditions without resorting to strikes or other more confrontational methods. By doing only what was explicitly required and refusing to take any initiative that might speed up operations, they created bottlenecks and delays. For instance, if a rule required them to inspect every inch of track before departure, they would do so with painstaking thoroughness.
Other notable work-to-rule incidents include Air Canada and UK universities.
Fact:
Another example of work-to-rule in practice: Austrian postal workers rigorously adhered to the rule requiring all mail to be weighed to ensure proper postage was applied.
Previously, they had bypassed weighing letters and parcels that were obviously underweight, thereby following the spirit, but not the exact wording, of the regulation.
By meticulously taking each piece of mail to the scales, weighing it carefully, and then returning it to its proper place, they caused a significant backlog of unweighed mail by the second day.
Number: 18%
According to Gallup, 18% of U.S. workers are actively disengaged.
32% of workers are actively engaged
The ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is now 1.8 to 1, the lowest in almost a decade.
Word: Presenteeism
The problem of workers’ being on the job but, because of illness or other medical conditions, not fully functioning. It can cut individual productivity by one-third or more.
Quote:
“I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.”
-Jerome K. Jerome
List: On the other hand…loud quitting
Greg Smith (Goldman Sachs, 2012): Greg Smith, an executive director at Goldman Sachs, famously resigned by publishing an op-ed in The New York Times. In his piece, he criticized the company's culture, accusing it of prioritizing profit over clients' interests.
Marina Shifrin (Next Media Animation, 2013): Marina Shifrin quit her job by posting a YouTube video titled "An Interpretive Dance For My Boss Set To Kanye West's Gone," which went viral. In the video, she danced around the office, explaining her reasons for leaving due to the stressful and demanding work environment.
Steven Slater (JetBlue, 2010): Steven Slater, a flight attendant for JetBlue, famously quit his job by announcing his resignation over the plane's intercom, grabbing a beer, deploying the emergency slide, and sliding off the plane. His dramatic exit was widely publicized and became a cultural phenomenon.
Walmart, over the loudspeaker: This seems to happen somewhat frequently…
Recommended Reading: Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber
Graeber explores one of society’s most vexing and deeply felt concerns, indicting among other villains a particular strain of finance capitalism that betrays ideals shared by thinkers ranging from Keynes to Lincoln. Bullshit Jobs gives individuals, corporations, and societies permission to undergo a shift in values, placing creative and caring work at the center of our culture. This book is for everyone who wants to turn their vocation back into an avocation.