Experienced business developer and recruitment specialist Emanuel Zammit has outlined a lack of “being valued” as the primary cause for both the quiet quitting trend and the Great Resignation period the business world finds itself in.
In a social media post he shared on Friday, Mr Zammit highlighted how quiet quitting is now taking centre stage in a number of industries, particularly as a result of a lack of willingness from the employer to understand employees.
“Quiet quitting is an application of work-to rule, in which employees work within defined work hours and engage in work-related activities solely within those hours, without going an extra mile from the standard job description,” he explained.
While having overworked employees is not healthy for anyone, neither the company nor the employee in question, this is also a sign that “employees are not feeling that they are being valued”, Mr Zammit said. He also made reference to a study that indicated that “more than 50 per cent of the workforce” is currently quiet quitting.
Mr Zammit also linked it to the Great Resignation, an ongoing economic trend that started in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which employees have opted to resign from their jobs. “Quiet quitting and the Great Resignation have a common cause – dissatisfied workers feel they can’t speak up in the workplace,” Mr Zammit added, before instructing senior management professionals to “wake up and react”.
“Money and profits are vital in business, but the greatest asset for any company are its employees,” he concluded.
While a number of recruitment professionals have stated that quiet quitting “has always existed”, it has recently accelerated as a trend due to there being a “greater focus on work-life balance, the right to disconnect, the after-effect of the pandemic, and the pursuit of alternative sources of income”.
Mr Zammit is Head of Recruitment Services and Business Consultancy at professional services firm GCS Malta, a position he has served in for a year. Prior to that, he worked in various other roles related to business development and recruitment at the company, including seven months as Business Development Manager and Account Manager. He also worked at Reed Specialist Recruitment Malta for over a year, during which time he was entrusted in a number of recruitment consultancy roles.
He holds a Master’s degree in Diplomatic Studies from University of Leicester, a Bachelor of Arts in European Studies with Communication Studies from University of Malta, as well as a Diploma in Human Resources Management and Services from misco.
