Forget hustler culture; here is how to demolish exploitation by acting on your wage.
Anyone born before the 2000’s Gen Z cut off line has most likely experienced the wonderfully stressful effects of hustle culture. A lifestyle glorifying overworking to a point that led workers to flirt with burnout on regular bases. However, it wasn’t until recently that this lifestyle choice was put into question when Gen Z workers joined the workforce, questioning if this devotion was ever really a choice. This is because the younger generation of workers were not accustomed to the same work culture that had been enforced with previous generations so naturally they adapted a different approach that aligned more with their socially conscious generation. And while their ideas and expectations piqued interest in an alternative work culture, the biggest push towards change occurred this year when, after two years of working from home, employees were asked to return to the office with little success. Remote work made people more aware of alternative approaches that proved beneficial for many, causing the general opinion about accustomed work cultures to shift. This prompted a conversation redefining work culture as a whole, and we are now starting to see this change moving in a more positive direction in the form of a recent viral topic known as quiet quitting.
Despite the name, quiet quitting actually has nothing to do with quitting, but in actuality is just a new approach that workers have adapted in order to set healthy boundaries at work. This means meeting the minimum requirements and working just the hours required. Often, this includes not coming in early, staying late, or sacrificing your time outside of work in exchange for nothing more than the expectations that many companies have for their employees to always prioritize the company’s needs before their own. Quiet quitting initially received criticism for seemingly glorifying laziness, when in fact the main point of this practice is to establish a healthy work-life balance. Acting as an adversary to hustler culture, quiet quitting has become increasingly popular, especially among younger employees who are prioritizing their physical and emotional well-being over professional success. A part reason being that more than any other generation, young adults today recognize that there are other measurements of success that do not revolve around professional achievements and because of this they align their priorities based on personal goals rather than societal expectations.
For a long time, the common understanding was to live to work and not the other way around, establishing a toxic norm that requires workers to work beyond their compensation. Quiet quitting puts these expectations into perspective and advises the worker to ask what is beneficial for them instead of blindly devoting their energy and time to their day job. By acting on their wages, modern workers are putting themselves first and setting a new standard for work culture today.