“Quiet quitting” is the latest panic in boardrooms and amongst employers. The phenomenon is nothing other than workers setting work-life boundaries. That’s it. Employees are still doing their jobs. They’re clocking in on time and working during work hours — exactly in line with the responsibilities set by their job titles. It’s just that they’re refusing to do unpaid work. They’re no longer willing to go that extra mile for “experience” or to show the boss how keen they are to move up the corporate ladder.

Bosses and right-wing media prefer to frame the phenomenon as the slacking off of an entitled workforce. This is especially true, so we are told, of younger generations, who are scrolling their phones instead of folding shirts double time. In reality, quiet quitting is workers pushing back against job creep and the pressure to do more for less.

Two and a half years into the pandemic, everybody is exhausted. But no one is more exhausted than the workers who’ve worked throughout the crisis, put at risk in unsafe working conditions, given limited time off, and have been poorly paid. Of course, the pandemic significantly exacerbated worksite challenges, but it didn’t create them.