Nothing screams Gen-Z louder than the latest buzzword: wage theft. But let’s be clear, it’s not really about wage theft. It’s about doing exactly what I was hired to do without going the extra mile. If I’m not getting paid for going above and beyond, why should I put in extra effort? That’s why terms like slow quitting and quiet quitting are just empty phrases. They’re designed to make us believe that working from home isn’t the superior option—which it is—and to emphasize the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Given half a chance, employers will often push for a return to the office just to cut costs on unused real estate. Let’s revisit the peak of the pandemic. It’s early 2021, and the Great Resignation is sweeping the West. Also known as the Big Quit or the Great Reshuffle, this shift prioritizes life over work, giving workers, especially those who worked from home, more control over their lives. The value of work diminished due to global wage stagnation despite corporate profits soaring, and workers realized there’s more to life than just work.
People were more efficient and productive working from home, enjoying the freedom to work when and how they wanted. If the work gets done, does it really matter how? I encourage everyone, whether Gen-Z or not, to embrace these working models to maintain a balanced work-life balance.
Slow, as opposed to fast. This movement started as a reaction to fast food and evolved into advocating for a slower pace of life. The idea is to not focus too much on work and new experiences, but rather to be present and nurture strong emotional connections with loved ones. The downside of slow is the cost—most people can’t afford to work less, and many still crave new experiences and are willing to work hard for them. This elitism brings us back to Gen-Z, where there’s growing disdain for Gen-Z culture and movements, as if we’re the elites allergic to hard work.
Slow quitting is different from quiet quitting because it combines it with the slow movement. It involves only doing tasks within the job description, which corporate language uses to make it seem like they don’t want to be as involved at work, putting in overtime and long hours at the expense of their work-life balance. Previous generations have too many stories of parents missing important events because of work, and we’re not willing to repeat that with our kids. So, the idea that I’ve ‘quit’ my job by only doing what I was hired to do? It’s nonsense.
Tang Ping, or ‘lying flat,’ is lesser-known Chinese slang that emerged in 2021 from various memes and social media trends. It started as a passive-aggressive resistance movement in China and has grown into a genuine counterculture, which I see as the Chinese equivalent of the Great Resignation. The phrase ‘to lie flat’ originates from those who lower their professional commitment and economic ambitions. Tang Ping is largely seen as a backlash against the 996 working hour system, an illegal Chinese work schedule that requires employees to work from 9am to 9pm, six days a week, totaling 72 hours per week, 12 hours per day.
