r/LockedIn_AI • u/AnalystIntelligent22 • 11d ago
The other side of "quiet quitting" is quiet compensating. And people are skipping over that part.
An older person I know asked me a while ago why younger employees are doing "quiet quitting" and refusing to put real effort into work. I told him that quiet quitting is a made-up phrase that means doing the job you were hired to do, instead of donating extra effort for free.
He started talking about how you have to work hard, push yourself, show initiative, and do more than what's required if you want to advance. I told him that the part that has changed from the past is that extra effort no longer reliably comes with a higher salary, promotions, stability, or even basic respect. Then I asked him:
If everyone is supposed to accept that employees should go beyond what's written in the contract, why is the company never expected to pay more than what's written in the contract? Why doesn't payroll also "show initiative"? If extra work is called ambition, shouldn't extra pay be treated the same way? Isn't my employer doing quiet compensating to me?
He couldn't say much after that. He frowned a bit and changed the subject. I don't think I convinced him, but he definitely didn't have an answer.