#quietquitting

I don't understand this ever-increasing corporate need to make us all miserable. Being invested would surely make us more creative and productive. But nah. Instead, make us hate our jobs, our managers, and the company. I absolutely don't care about team dynamics or outcomes. I don't care if I have this job tomorrow. So I have no skin in the game. And I'm dedicated accordingly.

After 6.5 years of successful remote and hybrid work, leadership decided employees must return to the office more than half the time. Despite years of strong performance, increased productivity, and record results, management couldn't even provide a basic explanation for the decision.

The announcement itself perfectly reflected the company's culture. After months of rumors and speculation, employees were informed through a Teams meeting while many of us were already sitting in the office. Cameras were off. Employees were muted. Questions were not answered. Instead, we were told to ask our managers for information that leadership should have communicated directly.

The return-to-office rollout has been just as poorly executed. Some employees have been separated from their managers, collaboration has become more difficult, and basic equipment and workspace issues remain unresolved. Apparently, requiring people to commute was a higher priority than ensuring they had functional tools to do their jobs.
What makes this especially frustrating is that employees spent years proving that remote and hybrid work could be successful. The company benefited from our flexibility, commitment, and results. Now we're expected to accept a major change without transparency, accountability, or even the courtesy of a meaningful conversation.

This experience has made it clear that employees are viewed as resources to manage, not people to respect!

stock soars to 400 in after hours market. None of us are getting raises, promotions, stock purchase plan or RSU's and are constantly being threatened by layoffs. JC and MD are getting rich and we're suffering, yet we do all the work. How long are we going to look like the fools that we are. We get a beating and then say thank you...may I have another. Apparently, people are no longer quiet quitting...or if they are....it is not working. The company itself seems to be getting stronger...like it feeds off of negativity.

I started quiet quitting, and I remembered why I was doing my job in the first place. I went back to doing just my job, the work I was actually hired to do, because I was getting close to quitting over how overloaded I’d become. My plan was to quiet quit while I looked for something else.

Six months later, my energy is back, I’m actually interested in my work again, and I genuinely like what I’m doing. At the beginning there was some pushback, but I held the line with “I’m too busy” and “I’m doing my job,” and eventually people stopped bothering me about taking on more.

The funny part is that I don’t even want to leave anymore. Turns out a huge part of what was making me miserable was how much extra work I kept piling onto myself. Go figure.

I was not LR’ed but after this last one I’m officially checked out. I will do what I’m asked to do and nothing more. Thank you Cisco and my wonderful team but this battery is officially permanently drained.

So it's SMB now and we're sc--wed. New title and responsibilities, no OT and no raise. Enough already, time to quiet quit.

I’m not going to bother logging on my laptop until it’s time to get my W-2 form for this year of hard work I have been preforming.

I hate everything about Dell. It used to be a good company. Not anymore. The greed, the arrogance, the incompetence, the abuse, the corruption, the dishonesty - it's a SHIITHOLE.

I commit to continue doing absolutely nothing and getting a pay check for it. Dell deserves nothing more.

I did no work for a year and no one noticed

• What my corporate experiment taught me about hard work, perceived performance and the path of least resistance...
  Leyla Kazim, Mar 11, 2026

  https://leylakazim.substack.com/p/i-did-no-work-for-a-year

Working hard is keeping you poor in everything that actually matters.

You spend most of your day slumped at a desk pushing emails and having meetings about meetings. None of it is about anything you care about.

The activities that are meaningful to you – things that bring you joy, creating and making, spending time with loved ones – are forced into the margins of your life.

Which is approximately pre 7am and post 8pm on a weekday, plus the meagre pickings left over from a 48 hour weekend, once you’ve done the chores, called family, met the demands of those who depend on you, and slept.

Time warps in an office, in both directions.

Days full of bitty bittiness - jumping from one task to another - are over before you’ve achieved anything. Flow states and deep work are things you haven’t experienced for years.

Or, the minutes stretch into hours and you wonder how it can possibly only be half past three when you’ve been sitting in that chair for what feels like an eternity. And you still need to factor in the commute home.

There is no day of the week that is not preceded or followed by a day back in the office.

Just when you feel like your mind, body and spirit is coming back to you - right around Sunday afternoon - you realise it all starts again tomorrow morning.

And you’ve barely had a chance to put a wash on.

I knew this life, intimately
For nearly a decade, I was a London corporate worker with the shiny BMW on the driveway, spending sunny days indoors staring at a computer screen surrounded by various iterations of plastic.

I developed a nagging suspicion that my role was irrelevant and futile, so I decided to conduct an experiment: I resolved to stop doing any work.

Half an hour before my weekly one-to-ones, I’d spend 15 minutes knocking up a page of something, sending a couple of emails, delivering my updates in a convincing tone.

‘I’m making great progress... the stakeholders are on board…’

My manager would nod.

‘That all sounds great! Carry on.’

What I actually spent my time doing? Meticulously planning ten months of travel on a spreadsheet.

I did no work for an entire year. The experiment ended not because anyone exposed my idling, but because I finally left.

My theory had been proven: my job was a farce. Which meant a big portion of my life was too.

But it wasn’t an entirely wasted year, because the experiment taught me a valuable lesson about the nature of modern work:

Modern work is a game, a theatre performance.

Once you understand the core rule – that a performance of perceived effort matters more than actual output – everything changes.

And why would you want to play the game in the first place?

Because winning means spending more time on things that actually make you feel alive.

Below are the 6 steps to win at The Game of Modern Work.

But before we dive in, let me be clear about something.

The purpose of this piece isn’t to make you feel bad about having a bullsh-t job, if that’s where you find yourself.

That’s not my objective.

My objective is to help you:

realise your situation

see it as an untapped opportunity

Perhaps you’ve been dutifully trying to fill your time at your desk with more tasks because you’re being paid for it, so you feel like you should be doing more.

What I’m saying is: reframe the whole situation.

Don’t try to find more things to do. Don’t try to make your existing tasks fill the entire week.

Go in the opposite direction.

Do only what’s required. So it well, do it fast, and spend the rest of your time on your own stuff.

This is the first step in engineering change - it starts with your mindset and how you view the situation.

See it as an opportunity, not something to ignore or pretend isn’t your reality.

1. Admit your job is bullsh-t
   The first step of affecting any situation for a more positive outcome is becoming aware of the situation in the first place.

The late anthropologist David Graeber coined the term ‘bullsh-t job’ in his 2013 essay that went viral with over 1 million views.

Graeber’s definition of a bullsh-t job:

‘…a job that is so completely pointless, unnecessary, or pernicious that even the employee cannot justify its existence, even though they’re obliged to pretend otherwise.’

These aren’t nurses, teachers, or refuse workers doing essential work.

They’re HR consultants, corporate lawyers, administrators, marketing coordinators – roles where if the position were eliminated tomorrow, it would make no discernible difference in the world.

I think some people have a deep-down sense that their job fits this description, but they don’t want to admit it.

Totally understandable.

Because all sorts of existential questions come up when you do, like: what have I just spent the past 20 years of my life actually doing?

But that doesn’t mean the topic can be avoided.

The alternative is continuing to pretend from a place of ignorance. Whereas what you want to do is still pretend, but from a place of knowledge.

Now the situation has tipped in your favour.

If you’re worried you’re the only one who thinks this about their work, you most definitely are not.

A YouGov poll found 37% of British workers thought their jobs didn’t contribute meaningfully to the world. Graeber estimated 20-50% of all jobs are ‘bullsh-t jobs’.

Apply the test: if your job were eliminated tomorrow, would anyone notice or care?

If not, acknowledge it. Own it.

There’s no shame – and everything becomes easier after the initial discomfort.

1. Understand the rules of play
   Once you’ve accepted your job has no purpose, understand that this knowledge means you’ve now entered the game.

Which is a good thing, because games have winners and losers.

And games also have rules. If you know the rules, you’re far more likely to win.

Winning, in this case, means spending less of your precious and finite time on this glorious planet doing pointless busy work and more of it on things that bring you joy, help you grow, or benefit your community.

The main game rule is this:

Spend as little time as possible meeting your contracted deliverables while still doing them to a competent level.

Do this by increasing your efficiency.

Complete all your contractual tasks at the start of the week when you’re most rested – knock them out quickly and well.

Then — without guilt — spend the rest of the time on your own stuff.

Your perceived performance stays high because you’ve completed what was asked of you. But do not go above and beyond. There is no sense and no reward in handing over more of yourself than is requested.

Do what’s required, do it well, and let your superiors believe it took the full allocated time – even if it only took you 1/20th of it.

Think of a parallel system, the education system.

Many students learn how to pass exams more than they learn the actual content in a course. I recall memorising a physics formula at university I understood absolutely nothing about, simply because I knew it would appear in the exam.

I passed.

The game rewards performers, not hard workers.

Nurses and teachers work extremely hard and are undervalued. And yet office workers who understand perceived performance, but in reality produce less meaningful output, get the higher salaries.

1. Put on a good performance
   What does performing look like? It’s theatre. You’re acting the role of believing your job is important and that you think everyone else’s is too.

Your objective is simple: make your line manager feel like they don’t even have to think about you because you’re just getting on with stuff. You want to make their lives as easy as possible.

This is key.

If they believe you’re working on whatever project they think you’re working on, and you support this with evidence of having met the deliverables, they’ll most likely be relieved they can just let you get on with it.

Figure out what it is they need to see to relax.

A well-prepared set of notes? A 6-page PowerPoint about a conference you attended? Whatever it is that makes them think ‘brilliant, John Smith is working great on their own, I don’t have to check in’ — deliver that.

You want them to report to their own manager that you’re meeting all your deliverables without them having to worry.

Confidence is key. Looking busy is the universal language in offices; use this to your advantage.

A spreadsheet is a great ruse – I planned ten months of travel on one mammoth spreadsheet and everyone thought it was work-related. Leave a paper trail: send a few emails during the week to show you’ve reached out to people.

As long as you look busy and make your line manager’s life easier, you’re winning.

1. Tactical slacking (reclaim the rest of your time)
   Now you’ve completed your deliverables efficiently and your manager thinks you’re working away diligently - what do you actually do with all that reclaimed time?

It’s your duty as a living and breathing human being to use this time well.

And by that I mean spend it on things that bring you joy, help you feel fulfilled, make you feel like you’ve actually done something meaningful with your 7-8 hours.

Perhaps you’ve helped someone else, grown personally, learned a new skill, done research on something that matters to you.

I have a friend with a remote bullsh-t job who coaches football during work hours because that’s his passion. An airport kiosk worker I met was learning a new language on their computer between the rare customers. I had my travel spreadsheet behemoth.

If you’re office-based surrounded by others, your activities need to work at a computer. If you’re remote, you have more freedom - physical projects, skill-building, anything.

Use this time to figure out an exit strategy if you want one. Research starting a business or finding a different role. Work on creative projects — reading, writing, learning.

Some people wouldn’t know how to spend tomorrow if given it off work. This lack of meaning is the greatest global epidemic no one is talking about; one for another essay.

But it’s also exactly why you need this reclaimed time — to finally discover what ignites you.

1. Follow nature’s example of the path of least resistance
   I’m a firm believer that life shouldn’t feel that hard. When it does, it’s often because we’re pushing against the natural flow of things rather than letting go and aligning with what actually wants to happen.

Nature never wastes energy. It does exactly what’s needed, nothing more.

Water always finds the easiest route back to the sea — it doesn’t force itself uphill. If you have a fire approaching both a eucalyptus tree and a cork oak, the eucalyptus ignites because that’s the path of least resistance. Nature doesn’t waste energy trying to force the cork oak to burn.

Think about your garden.

You can spend enormous energy coddling high-maintenance plants that need constant attention, or you can welcome the weeds — plants that flourish with zero intervention.

Many are edible, medicinal, beautiful. And they’re highly efficient.

The thing you need to remember is you are a part of Nature. You might not yet know your purpose in life, but one thing is for certain: it isn’t to have meetings, pay off debts, then die.

Don’t waste energy on work that resists your soul.

Your soul knows this work is futile. The natural state is to do the minimum needed for survival (your deliverables) and let the rest of your energy flow where it actually wants to go, towards what makes you come alive.

That’s not cheating the system. That’s being intelligent enough to follow how the universe actually works.

‘But isn’t this deceitful?’
I can hear some of you objecting: isn’t it deceitful to let your employer pay you for doing stuff that has nothing to do with their work?

Here’s my response: if you went to your line manager tomorrow and said ‘Hey there Graham! I’ve completed everything you’ve given me in a tenth of the time, do you have any more work for me?’ - you’d stress them out.

The truth is, most of the time they won’t have anything else for you to do. You might think you’re helping, but you’re actually making their lives more difficult.

Now they’re obliged to figure out what the he-l else to do with you.

If they can’t, the worst-case scenario is you’re forcing them to acknowledge that your role is meaningless - which you already know, but they likely don’t want to lay you off.

Too much admin.

You’ve given them the very difficult task of having to justify your role even though you’ve just proven you completed it in a fraction of the time.

So if you’re considering other people’s feelings and lives, it’s for everyone’s benefit if you continue with the charade and keep playing the role. It’s not deceitful for them to be paying you when you’re not working on their stuff.

You’re actually helping the system work.

It’s not your fault if you’re efficient. It’s not your fault if the role shouldn’t actually exist.

‘But I’m drowning in work’
Some of you aren’t exactly sitting idle in your bullsh-t job — you’re doing the work of three people because enlightened colleagues keep quitting, aren’t being replaced and you’re absorbing their tasks.

You’re working evenings and weekends and spending less time with your family, simply to meet the demands of the extra bullsh-t.

This is a different problem: lots of busy work - meetings about meetings, firefighting, sending emails - but nothing of real substance or meaning.

It feels like a lot of work, but you’re not actually achieving anything.

If this is you, the efficiency principles still apply where possible.

But honestly, this might be your sign that it’s time to get the he-l out.

A bullsh-t job with capacity to slack is one thing. A bullsh-t job that’s stealing your life and health? That’s unsustainable.

This essay is for those of you with hours to fill at a desk, not those drowning. If you’re drowning, that’s a different conversation entirely.

Your focus needs to be an exit strategy.

Final thoughts
The key to surviving an unfulfilling job (other than leaving it) isn’t working harder - it’s understanding that modern work is just a game.

Once you know the core rule - that perceived performance is valued more than actual hard work - everything changes.

You can reclaim hours of your week. Not by quitting or setting it all alight, but by working efficiently in order to spend the majority of your ‘office time’ on things that bring you joy and help you realise the life you actually want.

I did no work for a year and nobody noticed.

That taught me the rules. Now I work late into the night on projects I care about because I want to, not because I have to. I experience flow states daily.

I’ve built a life I don’t need to escape from.

You’re not being deceitful. You’re being intelligent. You’re following nature’s principle: don’t waste energy where it doesn’t matter.

Stop grinding, start playing. If I can do it, you can do it too.

What's your experience with bullsh-t jobs, ever had one? Have you tried tactical slacking? Let me know!

Going forward...

• 8 hours a day. max
• uninstalling BYOD
• if asked to travel the answer is No
• save your pizza parties and team building. if i'm not working, i'm going home

not good enough? bring on the PIP. Will gladly take it and the package when laid off. Not everyone will leave on their own without for free

The people we lost...they're some of our best! What's the point in giving it your all if it won't keep you safe?

We've been working under a regime of cuts and layoffs for so long, with no follow-through, no plan, that it feels like we've finally hit the breaking point. Not that I care anymore. When your own odds of getting cut in the near future are that high, why buy into the pressure to go above and beyond? I'm done.

Zero investment in work. Zero care. Lay me off. Fire me. I honestly don't give a damn anymore. Living under the constant threat of being cut was never sustainable.

I think the next 2 weeks will be quiet- hr is processing all of the ALST layoffs from the sale- not everyone was picked up by the new company.

There is absolutely no reason to go above and beyond.
If you want more money, switch jobs.
If you want more time and freedom, quiet quit.
Cisco seems to be unable to distinguish between overachievers and people who put in 10 hour weeks by clicking the right buttons at the right times.
Whats the point of taking on more than you can get away with ?

Took some work, but I got there. That also means I'm done trying to prove myself, going above and beyond, or giving this job anything beyond what my paycheck already covers. At this point, it's obvious that performance is the last thing that matters in layoff decisions. So no, I'm not ki-ling myself for the slim chance it might save my job.

Every single round of cuts made me care less. My work ethic has dropped with each one. I just don't see the point anymore.

We're all in agreement to only work 4/5 days a week and only put forth 80% effort right? for those who havent quiet quit already please do so and stop taking this job seriously. stop slacking ppl, stop scheduling meetings, just ktlo because that is exactly what kkr and elt are doing.

March hurt. Two of our best and brightest left voluntarily despite having the coveted virtual designation and being only in their 50s. Each put on a good game face for why they were leaving but everyone knows they got tired of the lack of leadership and apathetic coworkers putting in the bare minimum. Morale is in the toilet and no one is trying to do anything beyond keeping their heads down and a clean presence report. T counting badge swipes, butts in seats, and key strokes as markers for success is cultivating apathy, resentment, quiet quitting, loss of morale, and disintegrating culture. No one else is paying employees this much for mediocracy which is why only those who saved and invested and have pensions can tap out. The rest of us suffer and grumble largely in silence. Most don’t even want to hear themselves complain anymore. I realize how sad and pathetic this post sounds but this is where we are and I am.

And I'm proud I finally reached that stage. Cisco is not worth one iota of my dedication, and even less of my anxiety and stress. Coming home and not allowing work to spill over into every facet of your life is pure bliss.

Wouldn't it be better to actually do your best till whenever you are at Oracle so that you don't have regrets later or you won't wonder if karma has come to bite you when something goes wrong in the future.

I am so sick of the absolutely toxic disgusting leaders that work here. I just spoke with my manager and I got 0 for my yearly raise, and only a minor stock bump. I am working harder than I ever have, and yet all they ask for is more. Is anyone else planning on quiet quitting? Why should I strive for excellent when my pay is mediocre?

I've figured out the game here. Most managers won't fire you for saying no because that requires confrontation and documentation. They're cowards who depend on you doing the work they can't do. So they just let it slide. Meanwhile they're building a list of people to sacrifice in the next layoff. You want on that list? Say no more often. Protect your energy and watch yourself move up the rankings. When the cuts come, you'll have a lighter workload and a severance package. It's a win.

Which means I don't care about layoffs, reorgs, or anything else here. Paycheck until I'm gone, that's the extent of my commitment. Leadership clearly isn't invested in turning this around. So I expect nothing, and I care even less.

I survived another round of layoffs and am not happy about it. Any tips or tricks for how to get let go? I quiet quit back in 2022 and have been doing less than half the amount of work that I did previously. I am constantly in the bottom 3 on my team performance wise. I just want my famn severance package already!

Devon may feel better knowing that Coterra employees got railroaded on bonus pay. Blood is In the water, and expect our efforts in the toilet. Moral is gone, can’t imagine any efforts or above expectations. Let the quiet quitting begin. OKC may keep its strong presence after all. Figured it may let someone other side feel better. I hear Devon payouts were business as usual. Congrats!

Officially reached my breaking point after my performance review.

Context: S&T L10, 4/5 on my performance review, and only a 0.6% raise but “the company is so excited for my growth this year!!!”

I know the situation here and have treated it as a transactional relationship. But for me to bust my a$$, deliver above my expectations, and get a fraction of a percent raise?

They’ve officially lost me, quiet quitting begins now. This company and its “leaders”
incompetence combined with Indian nepotism culture has ruined the employee experience.

I feel disrespected beyond belief, fu-k this place

With the ongoing game of moving the goal posts every year to deny nearly everyone who earned an exceeds rating from ever getting one, in the spirit of the Olympics, I say “Go for the Bronze “ in 2026 - there is simply no incentive to do more and if they really want to RIF you, that will likely happen regardless of your performance. In the end you will at least have prioritized your life balance and not fallen for yet another false promise.

How is it working for you? Any repercussions?

For those who got partially meets what’s your plan? Are you quite quitting until a new job or picking up the pace?

Give USAA what it’s owed.

Are there any other rumors besides restaurants product for layoffs coming up? I feel like one is coming soon. It’s too quiet and it can’t only be that one department.

I really want to get done some right things for the customers but I get so frustrated when all these middle managers are too incompetent to take a decision and too power to block your progress.

I am mentally quitting unless Dan present some radical ideas tomorrow to weed out these middle management employees ( Directors and above) .. even AD are not good but they are not that powerful and willing to hear.

Among current and previous employees. Current workforce mostly has quietly quit and Dell is going to be squeezed by current suppliers in 2026, deaths by a thousand paper cuts.

They're trying to stress us into resigning. My strategy is quiet quitting. I'll do just enough not to get fired outright. If they want me out, they'll have to pay for the privilege.

IC Design just got hit with 7%. They threw in a few names from Hyderabad to make it seem like it's global but overwhelming majority is US-based. Officially, these random cuts aren't layoffs but "changing strategies and priorities". I heard similar cuts happened to other teams already in 2025.

Make no mistake, executives have been talking about opex and efficiency every townhall. I am guessing they decided quiet layoffs are better than another big round like late 2023. That's fine, we can counter quiet layoffs with quiet quitting.

Unless you are in HIH, Philippines, or Ireland, then you are at risk of being laid off. Other posts here and my own experience shows that being a top performer or being younger or paid less doesn’t make a difference. They stopped taking manager input and they are just randomly firing. Probably letting AI tell them who to cut.

So what can you do about it until this madness is over?

Quiet quit. Do only what you have to, and no going above and beyond. If they cut 3 people and hand you their work, do what you can but don’t do it all. Otherwise you are rewarding them for making things worse. If you are salary, work 40 hours. No more no less. If you are told to take on new roles on top of your current one, politely inform your manager that you are only one person, ask for a breakdown of all expectations then advise that while you will do your best, the expectations are not reasonable for one person.

Don’t go out of your way to help HIH. Do what you have to in order to keep your job, but if they are asking for extra time from you so you can basically train them to replace you, defer until you have the extra time. If HIH says something hard to understand, ask them to repeat until you do understand. If you get a kindly email that is hard to read, politely respond that you don’t understand and ask for clarification until you do. That will slow the down and increase the inefficiencies of language barriers. These people, while certainly mostly good humans, aren’t your friends. They are your replacement.

Don’t put everything into documentation. This is used to train AI and many HIH can only work off of SOPs. Let them figure out missing, but common sense, steps. Otherwise you are training your replacements. Make your documentation as obscure and high level English language as possible. AI will struggle to interpret it and will be more prone to hallucinations. HIH will get confused and make mistakes. Cigna won’t see the error of this JE/RIF/offshoring strategy unless those left behind cause things to fall apart.

Take your PTO. You earned it. It is your time and your benefit. If you have Standout points cash them in before you can’t.

If you have Cigna insurance, use as many benefits as you can as soon as you can. Get your new glasses. Snag that HSA $. Get as many preventative screenings as you can.

It won’t stop what’s coming. We can’t change that. Unionizing is not feasible and Cigna would bankrupt itself Union busting before ever allowing it.

But not helping them be successful in sending your jobs to another country, or having (error prone) AI doing your job will make a small difference and add up long term. Don’t not do your job. But don’t make it any easier on Cigna for getting rid of others or even yourself.

It was on a Friday afternoon for Monday.

I had been quiet quitting for a 2 years already so welcomed the payout.

Only gripe I had is it was scheduled for 8am.
I remember pinging my manager "really? we have to do this at 8am???"
no response of course.

Anyways, I am in a much better place now. My only regret was staying as long as I did at Dell (4years). I consider it a stain on my resume.

I'm in pure "collect the paycheck" mode now. Minimal effort, zero overtime. The last year and a half have been a masterclass in how dedication is rewarded here. It isn't. My only remaining goal is to get a decent severance and never look back.