PETALING JAYA: The culture of “quiet quitting” has intensified in Malaysia, and employers must accept a large chunk of the blame for flouting employment laws and best practices, a human resources expert said.
Quiet quitting occurs when people opt out of tasks beyond their assigned duties and become less psychologically invested in work.
Srithren Krishnan, director of human resources for consulting group KPintar Sdn Bhd, said the problem is prevalent in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) because business owners are either not that well-versed with employment laws or indifferent towards them.
As an example, he cited the case of a Muslim-owned rehabilitation centre which refused to approve an application by a Muslim employee for annual leave over the Hari Raya Aidiladha period.
“The after-effect was that the employee stopped doing anything extra on her job, delivered the minimum and then, finally, quit,” Srithren told FMT.
In another incident, he said an employer who runs a physiotherapy centre sought to introduce a new employment term banning employees from working in a similar industry for two years upon termination of their employment, depriving them the right to practice as physiotherapists for a prolonged period.
“Those affected employees went on quiet quitting by not being honest (with) patients that they (were treating) and started moonlighting. They said: ‘Why should I work hard when my employer is very selfish?’”
Srithren said the quiet quitting trend has intensified since the Covid-19 pandemic, as employees saw an increase in their workload but not their pay.
“This has caused longer working hours with less compensation and less time devoted to their personal lives.
“As the quality of work-life balance deteriorates, the intention to quiet quit gets in,” he added.
Multinational corporations (MNCs) are not immune to quiet quitting by employees, but, in their case, the dissatisfaction is usually about pay.
He said, local employees become less invested in their work when they learn of their expatriate colleagues’ inflated salaries, and eventually leave because they feel that their contributions are not appreciated.
Senior employees in MNCs who experience slow wage increases also resort to this when they find out about new hires with substantially higher wages.
“Workplace loyalty will drop among senior employees; they will start contributing the least and will not participate fully during meetings or in team events,” he added.
Unappreciated
Several workers shared with FMT how they have been quiet quitting for some time.
A lab scientist at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur said she used to enjoy working even 60 hours per week during the Covid-19 pandemic as she was well-remunerated and worked in a positive working environment.
However, everything changed when a new team leader emerged. The new leader, she said, would brush aside suggestions from the team on how to improve work delivery.
“I would be called bossy (as) I expect my opinions to be acknowledged. The opinions of senior colleagues are also ignored,” she told FMT.
She also said her leader played favourites with certain employees and his lackadaisical attitude toward lab work further pushed her towards quiet quitting.
“In the past, I used to ask for additional tasks. Now I don’t, and I have also stopped sharing ideas for improvements, regardless of their importance.
“I just stick to working ‘9 to 5’. I have never clocked out a minute later than 5pm,” she added.
She said team leaders and employers should listen to the opinions of colleagues and staff members, so the workforce will not feel unappreciated.
Overburdened
Meanwhile, a contract lecturer at a university in Selangor told FMT he has been quiet quitting for some time. He says he has been burdened with much more work than his colleagues, which has disrupted his family life.
“I don’t go beyond what they give me,” he told FMT, adding that he feels under appreciated.
He said companies should set up an online workplace evaluation system that would allow them to share their grievances.
“Rather than waiting for people to come forward, create for us a system so that employees with problems can be detected much earlier.”
Exploited
An engineer in Penang said that, as a new hire in his current company, he used to “give 110%” because he thought his efforts and skills would be recognised.
However, as time went on, he began to realise that the bosses were exploiting the workforce by making them work extra hours with no overtime pay.
“I decided to stick to my limits, offering the bare minimum,” he told FMT.
He called for employers to compensate their staff for overtime and allow for greater flexibility when it comes to completing tasks.
He also called for employers to chart clear career progressions for their employees and make available opportunities for skills development.
Srithren recommended that employers look into job rotation to keep staff members motivated and allow them a proper work-life balance.
He also recommended that employers create avenues that allow staff to air grievances about their workload. - FMT
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