Commentary
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that the unemployment rate currently stands at 3.9 percent. This is a respectable figure, considering that it averaged 6.6 percent from 1978 to 2024.
The unemployment rate peaked in December 1992 at 11.20 percent, while the lowest rate on record was 3.5 percent in July 2022.
The current situation suggests Australia is heading into a period of prosperity, near full employment following the unsettling COVID-19 disruptions.
However, this figure, taken in isolation, does not account for “quiet quitting.”
The concept of “quiet quitting” refers to the tendency among workers to limit their contribution to the business.
These people intentionally fail to exceed, or even meet, the expectations of their employers, and typically do not volunteer for tasks that otherwise might have improved their career path.
How Widespread Has This Become?
The evidence of this practice is readily available.They add that, “This is a significant proportion of human capital that is not being fully utilised. Research suggests that such employees take more sick days, put in less discretionary effort, are less focused on delivering outputs, and may even make customers and co-workers unhappy.”
The lack of job satisfaction, which nurtures the practice of “quiet quitting,” presents Australia with a difficult problem.
For example, in universities, some academics may only be on campus to attend quasi-compulsory work meetings and teach weekly classes.
For them, teaching is the worst activity of the week (or second worst after marking examination papers). Envisaging that unrealistic expectations could jeopardise their promotion chances, they might not do much research either.
Another notable example that dovetails with the “quiet quitting” philosophy is the current campaign to entrench a four-day work week in Australia.
Although proponents of the four-day week claim that a reduction in hours will not affect productivity, one must be gullible to entertain such an unbelievable claim.
Also, the “disconnect” legislation currently considered by the federal parliament, is another example.
How Has It Gotten to This Point?
Why is quiet quitting prevalent in Australia? There are, of course, the usual suspects, such as workplace stress, bullying on the job, and burnout.The threat of artificial intelligence has also exacerbated the problem because it has the potential to make jobs redundant.
In such a context, job insecurity is a challenge, and employees may stay in a job for the wrong reasons. This too will increase incidences of “quiet quitting.”
However, the most obvious reason is the work-from-home practice, so widespread during the COVID-19 era.
This practice undoubtedly provided the ideal environment for quiet quitting because employees went unsupervised.
Bayside Group, commenting on this practice, writes that working from home “reduces casual interactions and dialogue, making it more difficult for managers to gauge employee morale, work habits, and well-being.”
They added that, “Connection with an organisation’s people and vision are critical to engagement and work performance.”
It is ironic that quiet quitting is happening in a low unemployment climate when one would expect people to have opportunities for professional advancement and betterment. But the reality is that a significant section of the workforce has embraced the “quiet quitting” strategy to register their disenchantment.
It is necessary for employers to acknowledge the existence of this problem and provide opportunities that can keep workers in their jobs.
