25yo behind ‘quiet quitting’ craze makes shock admission on booming work trend

The Gen Z employee who helped hype up the “quiet quitting” movement has made a shocking revelation about the worldwide work trend.

Gen Z worker Zaid Khan has made a shocking admission about quiet quitting. Picture: @zaidleppelin/TikTok

The 25-year-old worker credited with helping to hype up “quiet quitting” into a worldwide trend has made an unexpected revelation about the movement.

Almost one year ago exactly, Zaid Khan shared a TikTok about the quiet quitting concept, explaining: “You’re not outright quitting your job, but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond.

“You’re still performing your duties, but you’re no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life – the reality is, it’s not and your worth as a person is not defined by your labour.”

Zaid Khan caused a stir when he posted about quiet quitting in July last year. Picture: @zaidleppelin/TikTok

He is credited with helping make quiet quitting the worldwide work trend it is today. Picture: @zaidleppelin/TikTok

That could mean ignoring work emails and calls outside of working hours and ensuring you leave the office on time every day.

It could also mean only performing the duties outlined in their job description and politely declining to take on any more responsibilities outside of that.

The post quickly went viral, racking up more than 3.6 million views and, while the idea of quiet quitting isn’t new, the American worker has been widely credited with helping turn it into the worldwide trend it is now known as.

Just weeks after that first video, the 25-year-old published another TikTok claiming he had been “inundated” with requests to speak to different publications, adding he “hopes it is not just a trend and leads to some shift in our collective attitude towards work”.

However, a year on and Zaid’s views on the benefits of quiet quitting have changed.

After posting that TikTok, the Gen Zer decided it was time for him to try out quiet quitting in his remote tech job, telling Insider: “No matter how hard I worked in that role, I wasn’t going to see the pay-off that I was expecting.”

“That is really when I shifted gears and just kind of tested the limits of how much I could get away with,” he said.

But six months into doing this, Zaid realised that taking a step back at work hadn’t had the effect he hoped for.

“What tends to accompany that ‘jobless employment’ is two feelings,” he said in a TikTok earlier this month.

“Firstly, this looming fear that you’re going to be found out and fired, and secondly, this broader existential dread of, ‘What am I actually doing with my life?’”

As a result, he decided that quiet quitting wasn’t the answer to his problems, it was quitting altogether.

Zaid’s views on quiet quitting have changed in the past 12 months. Picture: @zaidleppelin/TikTok

Not everyone agreed with his new outlook. Picture: @zaidleppelin/TikTok

Earlier this year he announced to his social media followers that he had taken the plunge and quit his job without having any other prospects lined up.

He said even though the pay was good and he had a healthy work-life balance, he was “miserable” at work and not passionate about what he was doing.

“Despite being in this idyllic situation of being able to coast in my job, I still felt this hollowness inside of me,” he said.

“We have been so conditioned by capitalism to think that our worth has to derive from our jobs, from our labour, it would just be gnawing at me.”

It appears not everyone was impressed by the 25-year-old’s new views on quiet quitting, with Zaid hitting back at his online haters.

“Some of the comment warriors were calling me a bootlicker for challenging the ability to coast at your job and for expressing even a morsel of a desire to have fulfilment in what you do for work,” he said.

“Bestie trust me, if we weren’t under the umbrella of capitalism, I wouldn’t want to work either, I would want to frolic in the meadow.”

Since leaving his job, Zaid said he had been able to focus on what really matters to him and finding a “zest for living” again.

“Leaving my last job allowed me to shift my focus towards life again and towards communities and hobbies that actually engage and interest me,” he said.

“The reality is we spend so much of our time and our lives at our jobs, that if your job is making you miserable, then that’s not good either and maybe you shouldn’t stay.

“If you feel stuck in the corporate void, I just think it’s OK for you to want more out of your life.”

Originally published as 25yo behind ‘quiet quitting’ craze makes shock admission on booming work trend