Costin Tudor, the CEO of online community for employees Undelucram.ro, talked to Romania Insider about the phenomenon of quiet quitting and some of the characteristics of the local market.

Fifty-two years ago, economist Albert Hirschman wrote Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, in which he argued that people have two responses to every crisis: "exit" or "voice." Whether it's a failing relationship, a love-hate connection with the government, or a toxic working culture, the ideal response is either to quit the situation or exercise the right of free speech and communication. 

These two, however, are a luxury that not everyone can afford as they all come with their respective risks. So, in the following decade, after the book came out, Michael J. Withey and William H. Cooper called for the third option: "neglect," which they defined as putting less effort and less time at work before subsequently quitting. 

All things considered, to call "quiet quitting" a new trend or individual laziness is quite misleading. It's rather a newly-coined term for an old adage of "neglect" - nobody wants to have a job that completely takes over their lives, and everyone has been seeking a work-life balance for decades without the guilt and anxiety that come with it. 

Romania Insider sat down - virtually - with the CEO of Undelucram.ro, Costin Tudor, to talk about the not-so-recent phenomenon, why it's not a story about normality, and his take on its "quiet firing" counterpart. Founded in 2011, the website is the biggest online community in Romania dedicated to employees with the main vision to make a better, healthier workforce for both employees and employers. 

What do you think about the "quiet quitting" phenomenon, especially in Romania? To my understanding, despite its name, it actually refers to how people, mostly made up of Gen-Z and young millennial demographics, refrain from engaging in any work-related activities outside their work hours. 

It is a well-known fact that if an employee is treated by the employer with arrogant superiority, without fair play, and without empathy, sooner or later he gets into a visible state of demotivation. If added to this treatment is a series of macro management decisions in the company that might conflict with the employee's personal values, we usually get into the typical story of a deeply demotivated employee who, if overworked, is a few steps away from burnout.

In my opinion, it is a very real phenomenon. To some extent, it has a common path with the story of resignation except that from a certain point the employee chooses (and should not be judged) this passive-aggressive approach of silent resignation. Instead of the overtly aggressive approach of resignation and possibly a lawsuit, today's employees choose a silent resistance that allows them to keep their job and thus their salary security.

Quiet quitting isn't just about respecting your work hours and rights. It's not a story about normality. It's about surviving in a place where you can't grow up and don't believe in for a long time, but it still gives you the security of tomorrow.

I personally feel the term "quiet quitting" is quite misleading, because it sounds like framing the employees as lazy schmucks while the whole idea of it is acting their wage and exercising their rights. What do you think about that statement, especially given that the line between personal life and work is getting more & more blurry with the recent trend of hybrid/remote work?

Quiet quitting is also a form of quitting. And it comes from demotivation.

If an employer would know how to keep their employee connected to the company's values and the employee would feel appreciated day in and day out, it is likely that the employee would not mind working overtime, and more than that he would do the work with dedication.

But I think demotivation at work has pushed employees into "minimum necessary" mode and shifted their focus to personal activities. That makes sense, right? Whether we're talking about a hobby, traveling, or getting closer to family, that's where they can get the motivation and purpose in life that they can't find in their work life.

The post-pandemic remote/hybrid way of working is not, however, a cause, it's just a catalyst. As you said, it has made the boundaries between professional and personal even more blurred than they were.

Is there any interesting data or trend that you've found in the recent months or years at Undelucram.ro, especially during "The Great Resignation" economic trend? And have you encountered any interesting personal stories related to these topics?

We can observe that Romanian employees do have more focus on the purpose of their work and on what they can earn. If they don´t understand the meaning of what they are doing at work, they just look for other opportunities.

This trend is visible at all levels, in any industry or department (including HR).

I also can confirm that this trend is happening in all countries where we are present with our platform (CEE: Hungary, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Czech Republic).

There's another term, "quiet firing," where employers purposely mistreat their workers and neglect their contribution until they eventually quit for whatever reason. What do you think of that? Do you think it's solely the fruit of bad management?

If quiet quitting is just a way to survive in the "safe mode" of a job you no longer like, quiet firing is a full-blown abuse. It's hard to place the blame for such behavior on the responsibility of a particular manager and bad company organizational culture. What is certain, however, is that quiet firing comes largely from an acute lack of empathy for the employee. 

But anyone who imagines that employers, managers, or HR specialists have found an easy way to get rid of an unwanted employee is, in my opinion, wrong. In 2022, the quiet firing method should be replaced with transparency, communication, and empathy, and here comes our scope to ensure that the market remains a transparent place and that such stories about workplace abuses quickly come to light.

rafly@romania-insider.ro

(Photo courtesy of Undelucram.ro.)