• Rooty@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      Employee burnout is a symptom of a toxic work culture, and “quiet quitting” is a corporate psyop invented to prevent you from noticing it.

  • catloaf@lemm.ee
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    11 days ago

    From the original reporting in the Japan Times:

    Some 45% of full-time employees in Japan are “quiet quitters” — workers doing the bare minimum to meet their job requirements

    Oh, no! People are doing their jobs! What a disaster!

    • doctortofu@reddthat.com
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      11 days ago

      I much prefer the term “acting your wage”. I’m not doing the bare minimum - I’m doing what I’m paid for. You want me to do more? Guess what, there’s one way to motivate me to do so…

  • xep@fedia.io
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    11 days ago

    The phrase “quiet quitting” really grinds my gears. Are you fulfilling the terms of your employment contract? Yes? Then you’re working, and haven’t quit.

    • BassTurd@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      I’m not quiet quitting, I’m doing exactly the work I am paid to do and no more of the extra stuff I’m not paid to do.

    • Frog@lemmy.ca
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      11 days ago

      So when the CEO of Nintendo cut his salary due to the poor sales of the Wii U and every American tech writer praised him for it, that was just common practice in Japan?

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        11 days ago

        He voluntarily cut his salary in half. That’s more along the lines of taking responsibility than shoring up the company. CEO pay is a tiny percentage of revenue, despite what lemmy thinks. To make a serious dent, pay would have to be cut across all the C suite, and much deeper.

        • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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          11 days ago

          CEO pay is a tiny percentage of revenue, despite what lemmy thinks

          It is the most obvious symptom of the problem, that’s for sure, no wonder it’s the most targeted

          • prodigalsorcerer@lemmy.ca
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            11 days ago

            Every thread where you see “ceo of failing company gets $3M bonus” followed by “those workers could have used that” ignores the fact that there are so many employees that, divided evenly, it’s never more than $5, and frequently less than a dollar.

            Yes, that’s technically better than nothing. And I agree the CEO doesn’t deserve a bonus if their company is failing. But focusing on this is missing the bigger picture of the lack of workers’ rights in America, and paints a target on the wrong people (CEOs instead of the government).

    • demonsword@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      Japan has strong worker protections

      this doesn’t apply to contractors and part-time employees, AFAIK

      • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
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        10 days ago

        This is for full-time “permanent” employees known as 正社員 (seishain). There are cases where a long-term contract worker gains those same protections (I think after 5 years, but I’m not too up on that).

        Various other types of employment have their own restrictions and freedoms to varying degrees on both sides, but I’m not super knowledgeable there.

    • cuteness@sh.itjust.works
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      11 days ago

      That was several years ago, so surely the water isn’t that hot. Have they tried bringing it to a rolling boil yet?

  • Alexstarfire@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    Yea, every article using the term quiet quitting is getting a down vote. Doing what you’re paid for is simply doing your job. This is basically akin to getting mad you didn’t get a tip. A TIP IS OPTIONAL.

    • SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works
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      11 days ago

      Doing just what you’re paid for and not one bit more is called “Work to Rule” and it’s just total bullshit that it’s an effective labour tactic of resistance, because it implies that exploitation is part of the expectation in capitalism.

      People want to do a good job and employers milk that.

    • Azzu@lemm.ee
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      11 days ago

      You’re doing exactly as much as required? How rude of you.

    • blarghly@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      I mean, that’s not what quiet quitting is. Quiet quitting is doing the bare minimum to not get fired from your job, which is different from the bare minimum that would be reasonably expected of you. Most of the time, if your employer actually knew how much work you were doing, they would want to fire you, and it would be for-cause, because you are doing essentially nothing.

      This is possible because many workplaces have very little accountability. One of the classic moves is to always be working on multiple projects - so anytime someone asks you to do something, you say “I dunno how quickly I’ll be able to get that done, I’m pretty swamped from X” - at which point everyone sagely nods and agrees that the team working on X is definitely swamped.

      If your bosses actually knew that you were just lying, and were spending 7.5 hours everyday playing video games, you’d be fired. But since they don’t know that, you can keep getting paid for showing up to a few meetings every week. That’s what quiet quitting is.

      • Alexstarfire@lemmy.world
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        11 days ago

        I have never seen the term used the way you describe. Because doing that is definitely not doing your job and grounds for termination if they ever found out.

        • blarghly@lemmy.world
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          11 days ago

          … yeah. That’s the “quitting” part. You aren’t doing your job, but you are quiet about it so you keep getting paid. That’s what this phrase means.

      • xep@fedia.io
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        11 days ago

        So what does it mean in the context of Japan, where employees cannot be fired except under exceptional circumstances?

  • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    I fucking hate the ‘quiet quitting’ term. It puts the onus on the people who are tired of the inhumane hours and treatment, and the accompanying meager pay. Instead of putting it on the companies and government whose policies and ethics are fostering these awful conditions which engender these sorts of worker responses. It’s not quiet quitting. It’s holding boundaries between work and personal life. It’s not allowing the company to steal your time away from you. It’s preventing the company from overstepping their position in your life. It’s so many things that are important and ‘quiet quitting’ does those people a disservice in favor of a catchy corporate approved soundbite. I find that disgusting.

    • TFO Winder@lemmy.ml
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      10 days ago

      I did not find any proper meaning of phrase quiet quitting

      It might as well mean - working only the amount you are paid for - which sounds totally reasonable.

      Totally corporate worded article.

      • TeddE@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        It’s a phrase meant to replace the old phrase “working your wage”, because that way of viewing it makes the whole situation less dramatic and more noble … and generates less clicks. Classic newsspeak.

      • samus12345@lemm.ee
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        9 days ago

        I always took it to mean “doing the least amount of work possible without getting fired.” If someone’s making an effort to work the amount they’re paid for, I wouldn’t consider it quiet quitting.

        • orcrist@lemm.ee
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          9 days ago

          You can define it that way, but the problem is that the authors of the article didn’t give a definition. For example, I think they think the term means to do what’s in your job description and contract. And they think that workers should be going above and beyond that. But if they were forced to spell it out, then people would ask why companies don’t change the job description or contract, because obviously it’s ridiculous to ask people to do what you didn’t ask them to do.

  • tamman2000@lemm.ee
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    11 days ago

    This is what happens in societies that have increasing income inequality.

    Why should workers feel compelled to bust their asses when it benefits their bosses, but not themselves?

  • Lka1988@sh.itjust.works
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    10 days ago

    Heh, I’ve seen this personally. I work for a Japanese company, and part of my job is coordinating tooling installations with the factory I’m stationed at (pick a chip fab in the US, I’ve probably been there). When we get a tool onsite, I get an install team directly from our factory in Japan who handles all the physical installation aspects. They work hard, efficiently, and with the utmost care for the finer details (some of these tools are expected to last 20+ years - we have a few that have been in production for nearly as long with very little fuss). Occasionally, they will finish their tasks early the last couple days and take off after lunch, letting me know of this beforehand and that their daily reports will be sent to me and other relevant managers at the “usual” time, with a wink and a nod.

    I don’t care how much time they clock, as long as shit gets done properly. Haven’t had any issues.

  • MetalMachine@feddit.nl
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    11 days ago

    The Japanese work ethic doesn’t even make sense and does more harm than good. If you don’t have time for yourself or family the society will collapse (already happening). To be clear, I’m not talking about being diligent work, but working 8+ hours every single day.

    Many Japanese don’t leave work at 5pm even though those are the official business hours because it’s rude to leave before the boss leaves. So people stay at work until 7 or 8pm. Many times having to also go drinking with co-workers or the boss. So, depending on the day, you may end up with 1-2 hours for yourself. No wonder they aren’t having children, and depression rates are sky high.

    Same applies to Korea.

  • MochiGoesMeow@lemmy.zip
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    11 days ago

    Thank goodness. Now when im napping during work I can feel less guilty thinking about Japan doing it too.

  • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
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    11 days ago

    Not listed in the article but, starting around corona, price increases started happening all over the place. Russia’s attack on Ukraine also caused price increases here for a number of reasons. Rice is now around double what it was a year ago (https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/3949/ – some general price increase, also shortages due to weather and shitty planning). The news keeps talking about price increases every month. Wages? Hardly budging. People are getting a lower quality of life for the same amount of work so of course the desire to put up with bullshit is dropping.

    Now, if people would vote for anyone else, we might see something happen. Voter turnout is terrible in Japan. As a non-citizen, I can’t vote so nothing I can do there. (Technically, there are some local elections that non-citizens can vote in (I think all requiring permanent residency permits) but nothing at an upper level).

      • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
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        11 days ago

        It’s protectionism and, yes, that’s part of what I meant by “shitty planning” above. There is American, Thai, Indian, and Korean rice here now. Calrose is a popular one. Same is true for butter and similar things here.

        Edit: I accidentally a word.

          • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
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            11 days ago

            I live in the rural Tohoku inaka and personally mostly get genmai from Costco (which I prefer over white rice). Online stores (Rakuten, Kakuyasu, amazon, etc.) have it. For in-person, it’s what I’ve seen people talking about and seen mentioned on the news.

  • rasakaf679@lemmy.ml
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    9 days ago

    You miss spelled it… Its not quiet quitting… Its doing what’s necessary and nothing excess… if you aren’t paid for it