Quiet quitting is a term that generally references when a worker decides to do the bare minimum while they’re clocked in as a subtle means of sticking it to their employer. One worker is viral on Reddit after declaring they’ve recently been asked to do more at the office without a raise in salary. They’re fed up with the arrangement—but they don’t want to be quiet about it.
Redditor Big_Call_8099 is resolved to get a raise from their current employer, and took to the popular social media site’s r/antiwork sub for advice. They penned a piece that’s garnered more than 11,700 upvotes asking: “How do I professionally say, ‘I’m not doing sh*t until I get a raise’?”
How do I professionally say, “I’m not doing shit until I get a raise”?
by u/Big_Call_8099 in antiwork
They said that they are already “overworked and underpaid” at their job, and things got especially difficult when they were asked to tackle “managerial-level” tasks, such as terminating a fellow employee. When they’ve asked for a raise, the redditor’s manager promises to be “working” on it. However, the Big_Call_8099 isn’t confident his boss is sincere.
“I’m at the point where I’m ready to say no to any additional work; I just need to find a tactful way to do it,” Big_Call_8099 concludes.
Fellow redditors shared some helpful verbiage. One user suggested: “Of course, I’d be happy to help sir. Just let me know what other duties I’m assigned to that can be put on pause while I do so.”
Someone recommended just abandoning certain job tasks. “When I tried to ask a boss what he wanted me to prioritize to do extra stuff, he just said, ‘I don’t know. Just do it all.’ My ‘solution’ was to skip the stuff that was least noticed or do a faster but crappier job of other tasks,” the user wrote.
Another user suggested that a visual aid might help contextualize matters better for their boss. “This was years ago. When my boss assigned me a heap of extra tasks, I printed out my schedule for the next few months, handed him a pen and asked him to cross out what didn’t need doing anymore,” the user wrote.
The U.S. labor force is undergoing a series of norm changes in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Last week, redditors debated whether the concept of a two weeks notice is outdated. Earlier in the month, another worker complained that their boss cut both their hours and pay because he doesn’t “believe in” work from home.
The Daily Dot reached out to Big_Call_8099 via Reddit DM for further comment.