Quiet quitting.

I hope you don't mind this offer of advice - have an idea or plan of what to do in that free time even if it is to watch TV, gardening, volunteering, etc. My dad was in a great financial position to retire early but did so due to ill-health. Made no plans so suddenly this usually busy man in and out of work was doing nothing but apart going to the doctors as I reckon it affected his illness.
I'm sorry to hear that about your dad.

To be honest, it is all still sinking in. Every Friday, like clockwork, I'd get ready for work, do my weekend shift, finish on Monday and try and cram the rest of my life in before Friday came back round again.

I'm still adjusting to having my weekends back, but I am loving the freedom this brings. For the first time in decades I didn't have to fight my way across town on the bike, and could actually watch "Match Of The Day" on a Saturday night!

I think going from part-time to no time (like me) is a lot easier than full-time to no time. And, as you rightly pointed out, your health is more important than anything. I don't regret not having a back up plan, but it would be nice to have more money in the bank, I admit.

I also think quietly quitting makes actual quitting easier, too. I would never tell anyone on here, "leave your job", because I don't have to live with the consequences of my advice. But what I would say is that it is not as scary as you might think it is.
 
I'm sorry to hear that about your dad.

To be honest, it is all still sinking in. Every Friday, like clockwork, I'd get ready for work, do my weekend shift, finish on Monday and try and cram the rest of my life in before Friday came back round again.

I'm still adjusting to having my weekends back, but I am loving the freedom this brings. For the first time in decades I didn't have to fight my way across town on the bike, and could actually watch "Match Of The Day" on a Saturday night!

I think going from part-time to no time (like me) is a lot easier than full-time to no time. And, as you rightly pointed out, your health is more important than anything. I don't regret not having a back up plan, but it would be nice to have more money in the bank, I admit.

I also think quietly quitting makes actual quitting easier, too. I would never tell anyone on here, "leave your job", because I don't have to live with the consequences of my advice. But what I would say is that it is not as scary as you might think it is.
Firstly congratulations.

In the next few months I will be going part time and really looking forward to it.

In terms of my own attitude. I think work life balance is very important. My first job when I left school was working in retail. Never meant to. I had a several interviews for office based jobs but just never got the job. Eventually I saw some sort of careers based service. They had a YTS placement at a retail shop. Tbh such was my lack of self confidence I would have accepted anything they put in front of me. The job when I was eventually taken on was six days a week. Closed Sundays. Wednesday a supposed half day. In reality you never got anything like a half day.

We got bank holidays and two weeks unpaid holiday a year. The two weeks had all sorts of restrictions on when you could take it.

No flexibility in the job and you worked every Saturday. So when my mates were going away at weekends, I never could. Same when I met my partner. Just one day a week off together. Missed out on playing a lot of cricket for the village team. Even things like weddings, funerals, local events, family events, doctors and dentists appointments were hard to get to because they just didn't allow the time off. All in the days before the minimum wage existed and you were paid a pittance which they made you aware they begrudged paying. I don't recall ever receiving a word of thanks or any gratitude. Never a penny bonus or anything. Just a relentless grind.

Thing is you don't get any of this back. You have one life. I guess if you've never had such a job or worked where you never get two days off together it wouldn't register much. It certainly shaped my attitude and when I was made redundant I swore I would never work in such a job again. It made me value my time and priorities. So these days I do my hours and help out when necessary but I make sure I get time in lieu to ensure I get my/our time.
 
In the next few months I will be going part time and really looking forward to it.
That's brilliant news.

I would definitely suggest/recommend anyone go part-time if they can afford to do so, you'll never regret it. Like you said, you may have less money but you'll have the most valuable commodity of all outside your health: time.

What I haven't mentioned in any of my posts was the simply farcical arrangement my ex-boss employed: two workers in their late 50's, one of whom was a cyclist (me). It was practically impossible just to take time off as and when I wanted to; everything had to be negotiated and planned to within an inch of it's life as there was only one other person to cover for your absence.

I'd been suggesting a contigency plan for years to both of them, which just fell on deaf ears. It reached a breaking point for me when my colleague contracted Covid recently and I had to do 2.5 weeks non-stop.

Now I know that probably doesn't sound like much to those who are working 3 jobs, 7 days a week to make ends meet, but I felt under such pressure not to get knocked off my bike because there was no one else to work the shifts.

And there was no acknowledgement nor gratitude for what I was doing, just a tacit acceptance that it was what was expected of me. I was so exhausted that it felt unheathy and not safe to be either working nor cycling.

I'll miss the steady income but I'll never miss the job.
 
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The new colloquial phrase is 'Acting your Wage'.
People are getting tired of younger employees with little or no experience getting hired at a higher wage than their older, experienced coworkers.
 
The new colloquial phrase is 'Acting your Wage'.
People are getting tired of younger employees with little or no experience getting hired at a higher wage than their older, experienced coworkers.
Where is that happening and why?
 
The unemployment rates are down in North America & companies are having trouble finding workers, so they're using higher wages as incentive to join their company, but at the same time they're neglecting to raise wages for current employees to reduce costs.

Those that can't find a new job are just leveling down their efforts to self-compensate.

This isn't something I made up, my cousin's wife & friends were complaining about it just last week.
I'm perplexed as to how the unemployment rate is down, since so many places are lacking staff, but I guess competent people are moving into the city for higher wages.
 
A quick google shows "acting your wage" is big on Tik Toc but also has been picked up in business reporting too.
But its always been a problem in some firms that experienced staff can be taken for granted whilst the company feels the need to offer big incentives to attract new hires.
 
The unemployment rates are down in North America & companies are having trouble finding workers, so they're using higher wages as incentive to join their company, but at the same time they're neglecting to raise wages for current employees to reduce costs.

Those that can't find a new job are just leveling down their efforts to self-compensate.

This isn't something I made up, my cousin's wife & friends were complaining about it just last week.
I'm perplexed as to how the unemployment rate is down, since so many places are lacking staff, but I guess competent people are moving into the city for higher wages.
Fair enough I think it's often the case that new hires get more than existing staff at the same level, which rewards job hopping. I've never seen someone with no experience at all getting paid more than someone with years of experience but I guess that depends on the job and how much of a premium you get for being experienced. In my line of work someone with ten years experience can reasonably expect to earn two or three times as much as a fresh graduate.
 
There's an article today about the 2.5Million long term sick. That's where the unemployed have all ended up.

I am not suggesting that it's people taking the proverbial, but as our workforce ages, it's just a fact.
 
on the original post, yeah don't think it's a new phenomenon, as others have said
most people will do just enough to get by once they know how to. i don't mind this but you have to get the balance right between continual stress and being able to chill a bit.
i had been in my old job 16 years and had lost all interest. on the good side i had an amazing work/life balance. i made it work for me, long lunches, a run to the shops to get something etc etc on the bad side, i was bored stiff of the work, there was zero advancement opportunities, i could see my life drifting by.
managed to find a new job and it's been tough going, but i now have good opportunities.
to be honest i'll be happy to find the balance between being stressed and being able to chill in this new job, but i'm not there yet. still a lot to learn :p
 
I had my annual review, with a new person who has been my line manager for about 6 months. We had a pleasant chat for a few minutes, small talk, then they said they would tell me my rating and compensation package. For past 8 years or so my rating has always been a 2, however they advised that this year my rating was a 3. In my mind, nothing had changed in fact if anything I had performed even better than in previous years. There had been no indication or discussion that my performance had slipped.

I was absolutley furious and asked for an explanation of why the rating had dropped but they waffled on a for a few moments with corporate speak, saying nothing of any substance. I challenged them for an explanation, but for the first time ever they were totally speechless.
I was so furious, I aked them to stop the meeting as I literally could not speak either I was that furious. I did let them know that I would be challenging the rating, however I know this will be a futile exercise

Appriasal ratings decide any bonus that you get plus any pay rise. The higher the rating the higher the bonus/payrise

I am a very concientous worker always going way above what is expected of me, hence the reasons my previous ratings have always been so good. My colleague who works down south does as little as possible to get by and he received the same rating as me.

So, f eck that for a game of soldiers, its time to begin quiet quitting. I am in my early 60's no mortgage and have a couple of small pensions kicking in soon to keep my going. With a bit of luck there will be some redundancies this year and I hope to be first in queue for that. I have worked there over 20 years, so that should keep me going as well
 
One problem with hoping for redundancy is that your long service will count against you, as it will cost them more to lay you off than someone with less years under their belt.
Of course this shitty move may well be to try to coax you to leave of your own accord and save them paying a redundancy package at all.
 
For past 8 years or so my rating has always been a 2, however they advised that this year my rating was a 3.
Is the 2 and 3 the appraisal ratings?
Appriasal ratings decide any bonus that you get plus any pay rise. The higher the rating the higher the bonus/payrise
 
Yeah those are the ratings. 1 being the highest, an exceptional performer, 2 being you are doing a great job way above what we expect from you.
3 being the bog standard that you turn up and do Ok at your job, just as we would expect you to do
 
Where is that happening and why?

Well that's happening where I work and has done for years.
If you are already working there, then no need to raise your wages unless you hand in your notice.
And they "have to offer the going rate" to attract new people.

So long serving staff get left out of this system, unless, as I say they hand in their notice.

Of course, as per usual, all wages are kept secret so no-one knows what anyone else is getting, but little bits of information slip out from time to time.

One guy is being paid probably 15-20% more than I am.
He was employed to go a certain task, but wasn't that great at that, so he was moved to more mundane tasks, but his money remained the same as when they took him on.
So now I see myself doing a far mor responsible job, but he's on more money.

Nothing short of me handing in my notice will have any effect on this scenario.
 
Appraisals can so often be abused.
My current company doesn't use them to set bonuses or pay rises, and operates a flat structure, so everyone gets the same percentage bonus irrespective of their individual performance. The appraisal is however used to guide any training deemed necessary and can lead to performance management and monitoring, which is the first step to dismissal.

At a previous company, it was used to determine bonuses, and it was obviously abused. The bonus pot was set at a departmental level, and managers saw to it that their appraisals were scored higher than their team, so that they got an increased share.

That eventually came to an end when a new HR director came along and put in a rule that the manager's score was partly dictated by that of their team, so if they decided that their team was performing poorly, the total pot was reduced. Funnily enough performance review scores magically improved overnight..

I once had a manager who decided to grade me as "Failing", because 1 of the 57 projects I'd managed that year was only marginally successful, due to something he perceived was my fault. The other 56 had all gone very well and were extremely profitable. This pissed me off somewhat, so I looked around for a much better, higher paying job within the same business.

I got a job in a team reporting into the corporate board, paid £15k more and grade jumped me significantly. He then did everything possible to derail the new offer by trying to delay the transfer and even calling my new boss - the Chief Customer Officer to tell him why transferring me was a bad idea.

That really didn't go well for him. I had an absolute ball for 2 years, working on cutting edge projects with huge budgets, while my ex-boss found getting any sort of promotion impossible, and ended up moving sideways into a job that never qualifies for any sort of bonus and works out of a miserable little office occupied by all the other people its too expensive to get rid of, so they get assigned the zombie projects that never seem to go anywhere..
 
According to (what used to be called) the news…

We now have conscious quitting.

Believe it used to be called quitting. Or resigning.

🙄
 
According to (what used to be called) the news…

We now have conscious quitting.

Believe it used to be called quitting. Or resigning.

🙄
But where's the fun in that? Much better to still be being paid while pursuing one's own interests!
 
I had my annual review, with a new person who has been my line manager for about 6 months. We had a pleasant chat for a few minutes, small talk, then they said they would tell me my rating and compensation package. For past 8 years or so my rating has always been a 2, however they advised that this year my rating was a 3. In my mind, nothing had changed in fact if anything I had performed even better than in previous years. There had been no indication or discussion that my performance had slipped.

I was absolutley furious and asked for an explanation of why the rating had dropped but they waffled on a for a few moments with corporate speak, saying nothing of any substance. I challenged them for an explanation, but for the first time ever they were totally speechless.
I was so furious, I aked them to stop the meeting as I literally could not speak either I was that furious. I did let them know that I would be challenging the rating, however I know this will be a futile exercise

Appriasal ratings decide any bonus that you get plus any pay rise. The higher the rating the higher the bonus/payrise

I am a very concientous worker always going way above what is expected of me, hence the reasons my previous ratings have always been so good. My colleague who works down south does as little as possible to get by and he received the same rating as me.

So, f eck that for a game of soldiers, its time to begin quiet quitting. I am in my early 60's no mortgage and have a couple of small pensions kicking in soon to keep my going. With a bit of luck there will be some redundancies this year and I hope to be first in queue for that. I have worked there over 20 years, so that should keep me going as well
I genuinely feel for you, I've been in that kind of situation (and others...) before.
Do you think there's any chance they're doing this because they think you might retire soon anyway? Even big corps for example have been known to give older employees less, because they weren't going to be around for long anyway... Ridiculous.
 

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