‘Quiet quitting’ growing trend in Hyderabad’s corporates

Hyderabad: At work, Nidhi Suresh (name changed) has been experiencing an odd phenomenon. She logs in for the requisite amount of time and completes the tasks. However, she does not do anything extra, whether in terms of time or effort. She admits that she works listlessly in whatever she does.

Nidhi is a victim of "quiet quitting”— a new term trending on social media that refers to performing the bare minimum of one's duties. Social media users claim to be able to relate to the concept more and more. There is, of course, no accurate way to determine how far it has infected corporates in Hyderabad, but Nidhi seems to be one of many workers who struggle to strike a work-life balance.

“I've been 'quiet quitting' for a while now because I'm not getting work that utilises my skills and talent. I don't think the company is making the best use of my abilities or expertise in the best possible way. At work, I'm feeling lethargic as a result of that,” bemoaned Nidhi.

One of the narratives on social media is that employees reach this frame of mind after facing burnout due to long working hours. Consultant neuropsychiatrist at KIMS Hospitals Dr Charan Teja Koganti, an associate professor at the Dr V.R.K. Women's Medical College, says while he gets a lot of patients from the IT sector who face burnout, he doubts whether they can afford to put in minimum effort.

“About 75 per cent of my patients are from the IT industry and they complain of headache, body pain, anxiety, depression, sleeplessness etc. – all because of excess work hours and irregular work timings, said Dr Teja. “If they rebel, companies either fire them or don’t give them hikes. I think though ‘quiet quitting’ is trending, I don’t know if employees can afford to put it into action,” Dr Teja said.

Human resources head at Way2News Pvt Ltd, Ranjita Prasad, said employees start ‘quiet quitting’ when they lose motivation due to lack of recognition of their work. “Failure to recognise work could mean high performers don't feel they are being rewarded for their efforts, or they feel that low performance is being tolerated,” Prasad said.