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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS ISSUES · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

QUIET
QUITTING
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1 Warm up

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. What do you think is the meaning of ‘quiet quitting’?

2. Why do you think people might do it?
3. What do you think management can do about ‘quiet quitting’?

2 Skimming for gist

Match the titles to paragraphs A - D. There are more titles than paragraphs.

1. What is the cause of ‘quiet quitting’?

2. Is ‘quiet quitting’ new?

3. What can managers do about ‘quiet quitting’?

4. What problems can ‘quiet quitting’ create?

5. What is ‘quiet quitting’?

6. What does ’quiet quitting’ show?

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QUIET QUITTING

No more than needed

The increase in ‘quiet quitting’

A. left people with partners and parents to care for

and some areas have been sharply affected by
A video recently posted on TikTok drew attention
unemployment. So quiet quitting is a way of
for its explanation of the mentality around ‘quiet
taking back some control to better balance the
quitting’, explaining what many workers had been
responsibilities of their personal and professional
doing for years. Rather than actually quitting the
lives. For others, their dissatisfaction is a sign of
job, however, the term refers to not doing more than
a need for change. The question over whether
needed and is a reaction to the corporate culture
we work to live or live to work has always been
of working long hours unpaid, in order to climb the
debatable. Yet few would argue that having an
career ladder. ‘Work is not your life,’ says the video.
interest in, and feeling personally connected to, our
Many people seem to agree. Arriving and leaving
work is preferable to showing up at the office and
on time, simply doing the tasks required, and taking
passing the time until you can leave. If you’ve no
pleasure in pursuing personal interests rather than
desire to do your best at a job, perhaps it’s time to
burning the midnight oil are all hallmarks of the trend.
move on?
B.
D.
With the recent increases in the cost of living
A recent article in the Harvard Business Review
around the world and the difficulties caused by
claimed that quiet quitting was more to do with bad
the pandemic, many workers are feeling the effect
management than idle or unmotivated employees.
of a particularly stressful couple of years. Profits
Data was gathered about 2,801 managers from an
for companies seem to be going from strength to
average of five of their direct reports, a total of
strength, and salaries and bonuses for CEOs haven’t
13,048 workers. The results showed that team
fallen. Yet workers do not seem to be sharing in the
members were far more likely to go the extra mile for
benefits, with many seeing a loss of income in real
leaders who were able to balance getting results with
terms due to rising interest rates and inflation. Just
a concern for their employees’ needs. Poor managers
as stakeholders in a company want to see a financial
had three to four times more direct reports who said
return on investment, workers want to see a return
they were quiet quitting than managers who were
on their investment of time and effort and all too
rated most highly. The key factor was having trust
frequently, they are not. This gives them very little
in a manager. Workers who enjoyed talking to their
incentive to take it to the next level, especially if
boss, felt they had something in common with them
there doesn’t appear to be another level to take it
and were inspired by them all said that they trusted
to. There’s also been greater awareness of mental
their judgement. Consistency was the next factor. If a
health. Workers are much more aware of the increase
manager does what they say they are going to do, this
in anxiety and depression caused by overwork than
builds loyalty and, of course, helps with trust too. The
they were 5 years ago.
last factor was expertise; Managers who were highly-
C. skilled at their jobs were far more likely to encourage
high performance in their staff.
For many, quiet quitting indicates a lack of options.
Many people have personal lives that mean handing Sources: bbc.com, hrnews.co.uk, theguardian.com,
in their notice isn’t a viable option. The pandemic hbr.org

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QUIET QUITTING

3 Finding vocabulary

Find vocabulary in the article on page two which has the following meanings.

1. the way in which a person or group of people think (n, para. A)

2. a general increase in prices with a fall in the value of money (n, para. B)

3. a reason to do something (n, para. B)

4. possible to do (adj., para. C)

5. unclear because different people have different opinions about it (adj., para
C)
6. more interesting or attractive than other options (adj., para. C)

7. not doing anything or working (adj., para. D)

8. the quality of always acting in the same manner in a way you can trust (n,
para. D)

4 Reading comprehension: Part 1

Read the article on page two again and decide if the following statements are True (T), False (F), or
Not Given (NG).

1. Quiet quitting started on social media site, TikTok.

2. Quiet quitting is about not making your work the main focus of your life.

3. Things have been very difficult lately for businesses and employees at all levels.

4. Stakeholders have seen an increased return on investment recently.

5. There have been greater problems with mental health for workers in recent years.

6. If someone is ‘quiet quitting’, it means that they want to leave their job.

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5 Reading comprehension: Part 2

Complete the following sentences with no more than three words from the article on page two.

1. According to the Harvard Business Review, was the main cause

of ‘quiet quitting.’

2. Employees are more likely to work harder when managers are seen as balancing the need for
results with .

3. The three most desirable qualities in a manager that would encourage hard work were trust,
consistency and .

6 Listening for details

Listen to three people talk about quiet quitting and tick the correct option for each of the speakers.

Speaker 1 Speaker 2 Speaker 3

teacher

doctor

software developer

editor

headteacher

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7 Listening comprehension
Read the statements and decide which speaker would agree with each. Sometimes more than one
answer is possible.

a. I’ve been ‘quiet quitting’ in my job.

b. A lot of people who do my job leave because of the workload.

c. I don’t feel as though I’m valued in my job.

d. I spend my own money on the needs of my job.

e. Responsibilities at home stop me from going the extra mile at work.

f. The life I want is very different from the life I have.

g. I worked really hard at the beginning of my career and feel I wasn’t rewarded.

h. A lot of people think I have more time off from work than I really do.

8 Talking point
In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Do you think ‘quiet quitting’ is an understandable thing to do, or do you think someone who does
it is just being lazy? Why?
2. Do most people arrive and leave work on time in your company?
3. Are you given reasons to go the extra mile in your company, or is it just expected? Explain your
answer.
4. Does the management in your company do anything that would make quiet quitting less likely? If
so, what do they do? If not, do you think this needs to change? If so, how?
5. If you owned a company, what would you do to avoid having workers quiet quit?

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QUIET QUITTING

9 Extended activity/Homework

A friend who is a manager in a company has written to you. He has a problem with his employees
‘quiet quitting’. He wants to know what you think he should do about the situation.

Hey there!
How are you? I was hoping you could give me some advice. I’ve
noticed that most of the people in my team just seem to be doing the
minimum at work and leaving at around five. I mean, they’re doing their
jobs, so it’s not like I can fire them, but they just don’t seem to be interested
in going the extra mile. They don’t seem to have any passion for their
work. I’ve only been in that job for about six months and it’s a little difficult
because I don’t know everyone’s names yet. But I can see them all leaving
together as soon as it gets to five. I’ve been busy trying to figure out what
I have to do in my office, so I don’t really have time to talk to them. I did
tell them all a while back that I would try and get them a pay raise, but I’ve
not actually asked about it with my boss yet. I thought that would make
them work a bit harder, but it didn’t seem to work. I need them to do their
job so I have more time to learn how to do mine. What would you do?
Hope all is well,
Eric.

Write back to him and give him your advice.

You should:

• Write at least 200 words.

• Check your grammar, spelling and punctuation.

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10 Optional reading extension: idioms

Complete the following sentences with idioms highlighted in bold from the article on page two. Use
a dictionary if you need to check the meaning of the idioms.

1. I think if I’m going to in my career, I’m going to need to do a master’s

degree at university.

2. I think the company is asking too much of us. Everyone’s exhausted, which is why so many people
are .

3. I’ve got too much work to do to go out this evening. I think I’m going to be
instead.

4. I’ve always worked really hard and my career at the beginning, but
now I don’t think management even notices or cares. I’ve not had a pay rise for years.

5. I’m just not willing to at work anymore. No one ever says thank
you or recognizes how much effort I put in.

6. I wish I could say our CEO his employees, but he lives a very expensive
lifestyle that most of us have no idea about. I think he just sees us as there to make him money.

Now in pairs, answer the following questions.

1. When have you gone the extra mile in your job? What did you do?
2. Which times in your life have you found yourself burning the midnight oil? What was the reason
for it?
3. When was the last time you handed in your notice? What was the reason?
4. Which person in your life do you have the most in common with? Why?
5. Who do you know who has gone from strength to strength in their career? What did they do?
6. Are you interested in taking your career to the next level? Or are you happy where you are? Why?

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