Toxic work culture, pressure main reason of quitting for most Gen Z: Report

Nearly half of Gen Z respondents consider toxic work culture and excessive work pressure as the trigger for quiet quitting, a report said on Monday.

Over 48 per cent of Gen Z, those born in mid-to-late 1990s and the early 2010s, attribute toxic work culture as the primary cause for quiet quitting, while a mere 6 per cent believe it to be a result of extended office timings, according to a report - Quiet Quitting and its Effect on Organisational Work Structure - by Kolkata based staffing firm Genius Consultants.

Notably, it revealed that 23 per cent of the respondents blame office politics and excessive work pressure for the issue.

Quiet quitting is a term which is used for those employees who put no more effort into their jobs than absolutely necessary.

According to the report 'Quiet Quitting' has led to a new trend - Bare Minimum Mondays, where the employees specially the Gen Z tend to put in bare minimum efforts on the work front on the first day of the week.

The report, Quiet Quitting and its Effect on Organisational Work Structure, is based on an online survey among 1,928 employees across sectors.

It further revealed that over 54 per cent of India Inc are aware of the term 'Quiet Quitting' and 74 per cent of the respondents believed that the quiet quitting culture is distressing the work environment.

In current times, the workforce perceives their job as more than just a means to an end, namely a source of income, said the report.

Given the current situation, both the 'quiet quitting culture' and the 'Bare Minimum Mondays' are co-related and can have adverse effects on organisations, and when coupled with layoffs, can aggravate the issue further. It's imperative for companies to address this issue proactively to foster a culture of engagement, motivation, and resilience in the face of adversity. We believe such surveys are critical to gather insightful perspectives on ongoing issues, Genius Consultants CMD R P Yadav said.

The report found that despite the trend of quiet quitting and layoffs, 43 per cent of respondents believed that the problem can be mitigated through better employee benefits.