"On any given day at 8:45 a.m., I would roll out of bed and make the five-foot commute to the kitchen to brew coffee. I'd throw on loungewear, wake up my laptop, and join my first meeting of the day. People would talk on the screen, but my attention was elsewhere: an open browser of TikTok air fryer recipes or livestreams of the latest news. My plan was always to do the bare minimum. I was quiet quitting, my own little protest."
"Six years before my revolt began, I was 22 and landed a graduate marketing job at a fashion house in London, earning £14,500 a year (about $18,500 at the time). Over the years, I climbed the ladder until I was making £50,000 a year and no longer had to survive on frozen pizzas or battle long commutes, having moved into my own studio in the city center."
A career-focused professional advanced from a £14,500 graduate marketing salary to £50,000 while enjoying city living. Pandemic-era layoffs and budget cuts doubled workloads without compensation, intensifying overwork and burnout. The professional adopted quiet quitting behaviors—working from home, appearing active online, taking long breaks, and disengaging during meetings—to cope. Initially those tactics felt like reclaiming time, but mental health continued to decline. Resignation followed, accompanied by months of travel. Time away enabled clearer boundaries around work, a reassessment of priorities, and recovery from chronic burnout.
Read at Business Insider
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