'Quiet quitting' raising a din in stressful US workplaces

As workers feel their companies are squeezing more and more work out of them even as their pay stagnates and inflation soars, workplace stress has surged, according to Gallup surveys

They are drawing a line at the 40-hour work week, limiting after-hours calls and emails and generally, if softly, saying "no" more often -- some American workers are embracing the concept of "quiet quitting" as they push back against what some see as the stifling trap of constant connectivity. 

Maggie Perkins -- who lives in Athens, Georgia -- was racking up 60-hour weeks as a matter of course in her job as a teacher, but the 30-year-old realized after her first child was born that something was wrong. 

Perkins told AFP she eventually left her job to pursue a PhD, but remains an advocate for her former colleagues -- producing videos and podcasts with practical tips on making their workload fit inside their workday.

- Work-life balance or slacking? -

In the words of user @zaidleppelin, "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."

For the debate soon erupted: Are "quiet quitters" merely trying to draw boundaries in pursuit of a reasonable work-life balance, more associated with a European lifestyle than with always-on US work culture? 

Data suggests the need for greater balance is real.

Similar dynamics helped fuel the "Great Resignation" -- the surge in employees leaving or switching jobs amid pandemic-related pressures.

Some observers are skeptical, of course, contending that offices have always had their share of clock-watchers and prickly workers claiming certain tasks are not their responsibility.

But former US labor secretary Robert Reich summed up the -- forceful -- counterargument, saying "Workers aren't 'quiet quitting.' They're refusing to be exploited for their labor."

A case in point: the experience of Bess, who asked not to be identified by her real name, illustrates how Covid allowed some jobs to spill far outside their normal boundaries.

But, she told AFP, Covid left her stuck in her New York apartment, having to take phone calls as early as 3:00 am due to the time difference.

"There is that stigma -- you put your blood, sweat and tears into your job in the US, and if you don't work, you don't deserve to be here," she said.

Philip Oreopoulos, a labor economist at the University of Toronto, said one solution is better communications to clarify employer expectations before accepting a job.

And if things do get out of hand -- and quiet quitting won't fix the problem -- aggrieved workers do have one asset to fall back on: a historically low unemployment rate.

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Originally published as 'Quiet quitting' raising a din in stressful US workplaces