'Quiet' and 'soft' quitting: Symptoms of a deteriorating relationship with work

Research suggests there are three conditions vital to the modern work experience: autonomy, boundary management and 'precarity'

- John-Paul Byrne

How do you feel about your work? Do its daily demands leave you burned out and drained of energy?

Do you find yourself reducing how much effort you make to engage in some "quiet" or "soft" quitting? Or maybe you dream of taking a more decisive step and joining the "great resignation".

The prevalence — and popularity — of these responses suggests that there has been quite a change in many people's attitude to the way they earn a living. Some think that this change stems from a post-Covid-19 evaluation of work-life balance. Others say it is an individual form of industrial action.

However, these explanations keep the spotlight firmly on workers rather than the work itself. Perhaps the truth lies in a fundamental deterioration in people's relationship with their work, and maybe the work needs to shoulder some of the responsibility.

Our experience of working, and its impact on our lives, is about more than what goes on within the office or school or hospital or factory which pays our wages. Even something as simple (yet important) as the number of hours someone works might be the result of a complex combination of national law, professional expectations and an organisation's resources.