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With its quirky name and instant virality, the quiet exit has become synonymous with setting boundaries between work and life. But Arianna Huffington, CEO and founder of Thrive Global, thinks those quitters may be getting that balance wrong.
In a recent interview with condition, Huffington says the impetus behind the quiet departure is Gen Z’s rejection of the noise culture for which her generation “paid such a high price.” It’s “an inappropriate reaction to the burnout culture that dominated their parents’ lives,” she adds.
The 72-year-old woman, who belongs to the baby boom generation, notes that she personally collapsed from exhaustion and burnout. But dealing with job grievances by quietly quitting isn’t the way to go, she says: The approach is more damaging than it seems because it “robs the quitter of finding real joy or purpose in their work.” Ignoring problems—such as toxic bosses, pay disparity, or frustration with a lack of advancement opportunities—denies the opportunity to improve them.
She loves her job, she added, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges in the job or things she’d like to change. Rather, she believes that her commitment to voicing her concerns as they arise has helped her derive joy and meaning from her work without dwelling on the details.
The act of quietly leaving, she says, suggests a fear of speaking up about a toxic workplace or a bad working arrangement. She calls it a “mean way” to express unhappiness or lack of satisfaction, which is not the way to create positive change on an individual or collective basis.
Workers have to find the middle ground, Huffington says
Workers view work through a black-and-white lens in which the only options are to do the bare minimum or go above and beyond. Not seeing the gray means missed opportunities.
“It’s not an either-or between burnout or complete withdrawal,” Huffington says. “There’s an opportunity here to redefine how we work and live and set clear boundaries so that we don’t base our entire identity on our work.”
This starts at the onboarding stage, she says, when workers should ask potential bosses about expectations about things that threaten work-life balance, such as being expected to respond to emails after hours, not having vacation time, or not having recovery time after a tough one—elevator projects (which Huffington calls “Thrive Time” at Thrive Global).
“We’re in a crisis of purpose and meaning, not just burnout,” Huffington says. To that end, she adds, managers have a “tremendous” responsibility to take action before an employee is forced to leave quietly.
The pandemic has made managers want to be much more attuned to feedback from their teams in hopes of changing the culture of burnout, Huffington says, which can stop those who quit quietly. “They recognize that self-care leads to higher productivity; there is no contradiction between the two,” she adds.
However, the onus is on workers to advocate for themselves. Whether they think they can quietly quit while still producing identical output, Huffington says, they’ll still miss out on some skill-building opportunities. “If you call him on the phone [in], you’ll be really bad at solving problems because you won’t have the engaging or empathetic qualities you need,” she explains. “You’ll also be missing out on the good that comes from helping others.”
If you think your employer won’t move the needle on whatever changes you communicate, instead of quietly leaving, participating in the Big Resignation could be your next move, Huffington suggests. “Maybe it’s time to get a job that will to give you joy.”
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