Is “quiet take off” a good idea? Here’s what workplace experts say

While the term smoking cessation may be new, the concept is not.

There have always been employees who react to burnout by “doing the bare minimum,” said Michael Timis, a senior specialist at Insperity, a human resources consultancy.

He added, “Today, this Generation Z is leading, but this is evident across all generations. It has gained momentum through social media platforms.”

However, quitting smoking in theory and practice can look different for each individual.

Experts said the concept is troubling because it can go beyond just achieving a better work-life balance.

“Quiet quitting removes any emotional investment you might have from your work, which is sad considering the fact that most of us spend so much of our time at work,” Watt said.

“Most of us want to be proud of the work we do and the contributions we make. We want to see our impact and feel good about it. Quiet takeoff doesn’t allow for that.”

She added that it’s possible to maintain healthy boundaries and continue emotionally at work.

Timmys agreed, saying there’s a difference between a better work-life balance and “not being completely involved.”

“An employee who attends every day, goes through suggestions, turns down some projects due to lack of interest, and has no desire to advance in his current career or develop skills is very different from a state of work-life balance.”

He added that quiet resignations could be a positive trend if workers focus on increasing their office hours. “The only problem: The trend doesn’t reflect that mindset right now,” Tims said.

There are bad qualities that can be adopted from quiet take-off as well, such as lack of motivation, underdevelopment of skills, lack of flexibility and inability to work in a team setting.

“From an office perspective, a quiet take-off from work can cause employee conflicts, as some employees will feel others can’t handle their weight,” he added.

“Overall, this can backfire on the employee and can also create a wave of inappropriate and backward employees.”

As Kevin O’Leary, investor and star of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” said quietly quitting smoking is a “really bad idea.”

“The people who go above and beyond to try to solve problems for the organization, their teams, their managers, their bosses, those are the ones who get the most success in life,” O’Leary said.

Still, Perkins insisted that quitting quietly doesn’t mean slacking off work — although she acknowledged that some people might.

“I value my work and spending hours, but I just want to respect my time and energy,” she added.

Perkins has since left teaching and is now an academic advisor and full-time teacher. Now she says she is ready to go beyond her current role.

“It’s because it’s a company that has shown me that they value me and that I receive very respectful feedback from my boss, it’s a healthy work environment,” she explained.

“If my boss was really negative towards me in the past, I would just say no.”

Perkins said she used to quit “out of necessity”.

“I had my first daughter [in 2018] …If I am late in picking her up from the nursery, they will fine me one dollar a minute, so if I don’t leave work as soon as my students leave the building, I will have to pay a fee.”

Timmes noted that quiet smoking cessation can be beneficial in terms of providing employees more time to pursue emotional projects.

“The employee may be able to think more outside the box, feel more refreshed and become more efficient in their work hours.”

Watt added that a quiet resignation could give employees a short-term respite from a work environment that is “overly focused on results.”

“I can see how a quiet resignation for a season may help them refocus on their needs outside of work, and hopefully lead them toward recovery from burnout and clarity about their needs and limitations within the workplace moving forward,” she added.

“At the end of the day, quiet quitting is about…fighting the fervent belief that the only way to move forward professionally is to work outside your limits and adopt a ‘yes man’ mentality.”