# The Quiet Workplace Revolution By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-07-08 With the rise of remote work and millennials, there have been a lot of "quiet" work phrases. It started with quiet quitting, or the idea of only doing the minimal work required to keep one's job. Later came quiet firing or the questionable managerial response of disengaging with an employee until they quit. Most recently, quiet vacationing emerged or working remotely while on vacation without letting the employer know. These quiet phrases indicate a shifting actualization of workplace dynamics. Quiet quitting represents the rejection of employer loyalty, quiet firing is the conservative response to the worker's rejection of workplace norms, and quiet vacation represents the first steps towards new workplace norms. In many ways, the rise of remote work and the Millennial generation represents a perfect storm against the status quo. Millennials grew up hearing about but never experiencing what work was like without layoffs and the maximization of shareholder value memes. As a generation, they possess zero workplace and employer loyalty because trust and loyalty are a two-way street. There is no logical reason for them to work beyond the job description when employers never return the favor. However, more than this dynamic was needed to form a cultural movement as managers still loomed large, and we are social beings. Proximity to power hierarchies slows the evolution of progress. It was only with the rise of remote work via COVID-19 that the shackles of proximity were fully broken. As is often the case, human progress and ingenuity occur during the most challenging times. Free from the over-the-shoulder looks and supported by the Boomer's uncomfortableness with technology, the Millennials came into their own with the opportunity to try new things well before their complete indoctrination into the ranks of middling and executive management. While the start of this revolution has been quiet, make no mistake that the change is underway. The quietness is a testing of the boundaries, and when inevitably Millennials rise through the corporate ranks, these boundaries will no longer exist. We can only hope that the actions of this workplace revolution are coherent and intentionally geared for the benefit of all humankind. #### Related Items [[Quiet Quitting]] [[Quiet Firing]] [[Work]] [[Status Quo]] [[Organization]] [[Management]] [[Revolution]]