Bite Your Tongue: Those Left Behind in Quiet Quitting.

Ava Govanstone investigates the conversation about quiet quitting and the hard realities of caregiving professions.

In recent months, quiet quitting has been flooded over my algorithm-based news sources. From TikTok to the Guardian, these two buzzwords seem to be everywhere. You can imagine my shock when I finally cracked, clicked an article, and found out what it meant. Quiet quitting is the act of doing no more than your job description, embracing the bare minimum. Naturally, public opinions on the movement are split, creating a fresh battleground in the ongoing cultural wars. Some commentators embrace the concept, some despise it, and some roll their eyes and say a rebranding of an old industrial action tactic is very 2022. 

Image Courtesy of Pexels

Part of quiet quitting relates to the meaninglessness of modern work. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about the viral story of the man who automated his job for over six years before anyone noticed. The pandemic reminded us of our mortality, forced us to stop, look around and question what we were doing. And as the great resignation played out, many made a choice: do I go, or do I stay and sit back? The concept seems to strongly resonate for those in corporate spheres or in service industries. However, there is one group that is excluded from these discussions about productivity versus wellbeing. 

How would you feel, for instance, if I said your child’s kindergarten teacher was doing the bare minimum? Or maybe your nurse?

Image Courtesy of Bow Gray

True to form, the pandemic induced what had been simmering for years to boil over. We’d known for a long time that the situation for those in caregiving professions–teachers, early childhood educators, nurses, aged care workers–had become untenable.

And they aren’t quiet quitting. They’re just quitting.

According to the State of our Schools survey, 70% of teachers reported an increase in working hours during 2021, and research by Monash University shows 59% are currently considering leaving the profession due to high workloads and stress levels.

In the early childhood sector, things are even more dire. Last week, more than 1000 early childhood centres closed in a strike for better conditions. These workers, the people who look after our children and begin their journey towards learning, are the 13th lowest paid profession in Australia. This is juxtaposed with the fact many of these educators report spending significant amounts of their own money on learning materials, using their own time and resources to make props and costumes for the endless amounts of special days centres use on their social media feeds as promotion. Similar to teachers, 73% of early childhood educators planned on leaving the sector within three years according to a 2021 survey.

The plight of nurses is more publicised than those of educators, but they experience an equally above-average turnover, for similar reasons as the ones listed above: high workloads, stress, and poor pay. We’ve all read about wards heaving with the sick, and the dying. Nurses expected to repeatedly expose themselves to infection, as course of duty. Heroes, but they’ve recently undergone their fourth industrial action this year in New South Wales demanding better conditions from an unsympathetic state government. Health Workforce Australia estimates Australia will have a shortage of over 100,000 nurses by 2025 if things don’t drastically improve.  

The public testimonials of those who have left these industries are jarring compared to the tones of those participating in the quiet quitting phenomenon. They are alternatively heartbreakingly sad, or angry. They feel guilt for the children they’ve had to say goodbye to, or worry for the patients that may not receive the best care. These are people forced to leave jobs they love because conditions make it impossible for them to continue.  

Image Courtesy of Bow Gray

Notably, these professions are all female dominated. In early childhood education, it’s as high as 91%. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why these professions, despite all being essential, are treated as invisible … why, as a society, we seem to believe they will just ‘keep going,’ despite low pay, long hours, and high stress. The recent industrial action by almost 50,000 nurses in New South Wales ran on a campaign with the slogan ‘more than thanks.’ Early childhood educators report more and more complaints with government curriculum documents that continuously preach self-reflection and improvements, with no acknowledgment of effort, a strong message of ‘you’re not good enough.’

It's not to say quiet quitting is not an empowering term or idea—it is! But, we also must acknowledge the privilege within it, and reflect on how we can stand with those who care for and support our most vulnerable.

WORDS: AVA GOVANSTONE
PHOTOGRAPHY: UNSPLASH