Some of the readers of "20 Minutes" have not been zealous at work for a long time, sometimes after a professional disappointment: a shelving, a promotion not obtained.
Others have stopped working overtime after a health problem or, precisely, to preserve their body and mind from the stress of responsibilities.
For still others, the concept is obsolete.
According to them, “quiet quitting” is the very definition of work.
" Work more to earn more.
Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 campaign slogan now seems anachronistic.
After two years of health crisis linked to Covid-19, the context has changed a lot.
To the point of seeing the emergence of a new philosophy around work, “quiet quitting” or “silent resignation”, which appeared on TikTok, and which consists of doing only the bare minimum in one’s job.
This means no longer working overtime, no longer answering emails outside working hours, no longer accepting responsibilities, additional tasks or even no longer “helping out” a colleague.
According to Adrien Scemama, head of Talent.com, a platform that publishes nearly 4 million job offers each month, "Generation Z is now much more attentive to working conditions and their well-being. .
They no longer accept to work anyhow and at any price.
We asked
20 Minutes
readers if they practiced this "silent resignation".
The first reaction for many is to say that the trend is far from new.
Jean, for example, has been applying its precepts for a long time, "long before this practice discovered a name on TikTok".
“I must be ahead of my time, since I have been doing this for sixteen years”, confirms Romain for whom “doing the job for which we are paid seems normal”.
At 55, Olivier has also always had the philosophy of "telling me 'work is not your friend'".
Management singled out
But other readers only switched to “quiet quitting” after a while.
Sometimes after a professional disappointment.
This is the case of this reader who, still working in the same company, prefers to remain anonymous.
“I was an exemplary agent, passionate about my work,” he says.
Then he came into conflict with his new management, who changed his service.
“Since then, I have decided not to take any more initiatives.
I arrive on time, but if I can escape early, I do.
»
Some of our readers have been disappointed in the face of unfulfilled promises of increases or progress.
Figo is a police officer: “I became section chief in 2017. At the time, I was told to take the job and that I would have a change of rank.
It's 2022 and I still have the same rank, so I understand people who do the bare minimum and no longer accept responsibilities.
»
The cause that readers most often cite to justify their lack of zeal is "the lack of recognition" of their management.
“Why give 100% to a company that only thinks about numbers and doesn't even manage its teams?
asks Naël about his boss.
More broadly, it is the management of employees that is often singled out.
Julien, a computer scientist, is the most critical: “I have come to understand that the only motivating thing about work is my personal progress.
The corporate culture no longer exists, nor does human management.
The wage earner has put me off a job that I love.
This is why he will now "find [himself] a position that will not put [him] under pressure".
Preserving your health
For others, it was necessary to go “on the verge of burnout.
I took on a lot of stress as I took on more and more responsibilities,” says Rémi, a computer engineer.
In 2019, he is preparing a conversion.
“From that day on, I decided to scrupulously respect the schedules and no longer do more than necessary.
Strangely, I immediately managed to sleep at night.
“After a stroke, Pascal, a contract worker in the territorial public service, “decided to practice “quiet quitting” diligently.
I no longer give any gift to my employer who, by his attitude, does not deserve it.
No job, in the public or in the private sector, deserves to ruin one's health.
»
"Let's stop killing ourselves with the task, to endorse the hustle culture [la culture du burn-out]", this is also what is said in the TikTok video which popularized "quiet quitting" in France.
Marcelle, 72, has known this way of seeing work: "Doing a little more to help, not looking at your watch, finishing at all costs what has been promised to a client, it put on the knees well people of my generation.
»
Work as a “means of emancipation”
However, the practice is not unanimous.
"Human nature wants us to surpass ourselves in order to flourish," thinks Mickaël.
The last two years may have changed mentalities in the short term, but work is and will remain a means of emancipation, personal and social development.
According to Frédéric, “'quiet quitting' is not a long-term solution.
Rather than doing less in a job that we don't like, because it doesn't suit us, it's better to find a job in which we really feel like we belong and which will satisfy us.
»
Jules, on the other hand, rejects the concept outright: “The term 'quiet quitting' revolts me.
Calling resignation the fact of strictly respecting a contract is only a way of making the employee feel guilty in order to push him to do more for free.
If my employer places an order, he doesn't expect to get 10% more.
I don't see why it would be different for the workload of its employees.
»
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