Hays Salary Guide finds rise in overtime could provoke more ‘quiet quitting’

Employees are being asked to work more unpaid overtime amid a skills shortage but that could see a surge in quiet quitting — staff doing the bare minimum.

A rise in unpaid overtime could provoke more “quiet quitting” or staff electing to work at the bare minimum, as employees struggle to find the right work life balance while skill shortages bite, according to a leading recruitment agency.

The latest Hays Salary Guide found only 4 per cent of Australian organisations managed to decrease their employees’ level of overtime last financial year while 51 per cent kept overtime rates steady year-on-year and 45 per cent increased overtime even further.

More than half of all overtime in Australia – 56 per cent – was unpaid.

Hays managing director Nick Deligiannis said in the past year skills shortages reached acute levels, leading many employers to ask their existing team to work longer hours to cover critical gaps.

“We know that 83 per cent of employers say skills shortages will impact the effective operation of their organisation this financial year. According to employers, the No.1 impact will be increased workloads for existing staff,” he said.

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“Any increase in overtime is a dangerous signal that staff are under pressure. Morale, health, wellbeing and stress-related absenteeism could all be affected. This can either lead to rising turnover or, in a new trend, quiet quitting.”

Mr Deligiannis said quiet quitting was employees making a conscious decision to perform the bare minimum at work.

Too much overtime may lead to workers electing to opt out.

“For instance, they won’t stay back to help a colleague meet a deadline, work on a task that isn’t in their job description or volunteer for additional work. For them, an adequate effort is enough to get by,” he said.

In a viral TikTok post on this trend, @zkchillin explained: “You’re not outright quitting your job but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond.”

More than 4400 organisations were surveyed for the annual Hays Salary Guide.

With 31 per cent of organisations, Hays found the average weekly amount of overtime was more than 10 per cent of standard hours which in a 40-hour working week equates to at least four hours extra per week.

In 8 per cent of organisations, the weekly average amount of overtime was more than 21 per cent, or above eight hours per week.

Furthermore, 24 per cent of those who are currently looking or planning to look for a new job in the next 12 months cite poor work-life balance as a motivating factor.

Originally published as Hays Salary Guide finds rise in overtime could provoke more ‘quiet quitting’