美国国家公共电台 NPR--The concept of quiet quitting has captured the post-pandemic zeitgeist

The concept of quiet quitting has captured the post-pandemic zeitgeist

Transcript¹

At heart, it's a debate about how emotionally invested people should be in their work, with quiet quitting as a Rorschach test.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Today we take our turn at quiet quitting. The term has been around for years, but only in recent weeks did it turn up in a Wall Street Journal story, which got enough clicks, apparently², to inspire more news stories suggesting that it reflects something real about people's attitudes toward work. Just to be clear, NPR's Alina Selyukh worked all out on this story.

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE³: Quiet quitting is like this year's version of the debate about the color of that viral dress. Do you remember?

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: White and gold versus⁴ blue and black.

SELYUKH: Now it's like, quiet quitting, what is it? Is it bad? Is it real? Are millions of people clocking out early and dancing into the streets to find their fuller selves? Rebecca Littman is a dental assistant from Idaho.

REBECCA LAMPMAN: Quiet quitting to me is kind of a psychological shutting down.

SELYUKH: Doing your job but not living your job. Quitting the idea of going above and beyond. Striving for just enough. For example, Lampman was tasked with extra administrative⁵ work on top of her full-time⁶ job for only $1.25 more an hour.

LAMPMAN: I'm feeling like I'm checking out. I'm drawing a line and saying, you know, you might have stacked all these managerial duties on me, but I'm going to get to the end of the day, and I'm going to be done 'cause I can't - I just can't (laughter). It's too much.

SELYUKH: For years, the corporate⁷ mantra told workers to act like an owner. Now the new trendy mantra is act your wage. Like, since when is it insufficient⁸ to simply complete your tasks during your work hours, no frills? At its heart, we're in a debate about how emotionally invested people should be in their work, with quiet quitting as a Rorschach test, just like that viral dress. Do you see it as blue or gold? Do you think quiet quitting is sad because people are checked out of something they spend so many hours doing? Or do you see it like Lampman?

LAMPMAN: Overload⁹ rebellion.

SELYUKH: A rebellion against burnout. Some academics argue quiet quitting is a crisis of poor middle management, laid bare by the pandemic. To corporate execs, it's just the same old slackers but now on a social media soapbox. And yes, surveys by Gallup show that a huge chunk¹⁰ of American workers has always felt pretty meh about their work. But since the pandemic, specifically workers under 35 have become a lot less engaged, reconsidering what matters to them. For Angela, a teacher from Indiana, having a child became the final turning point.

ANGELA: Before, there were times where if I didn't get everything done, I would tell myself, well, this is just a night I have to do that work, or I'm just going to have to work this weekend. And now that I have my son, I just don't even tolerate that because my life is more than my profession.

SELYUKH: This puts quiet quitting in the same category as the great resignation. With a tight labor¹¹ market, people feel empowered to quit, to unionize and to give a little less to their work. Julia Pollak is an economist¹² at the job search site ZipRecruiter.

JULIA POLLAK: With layoffs¹³ and firings at a record low, people have unprecedented¹⁴ job security.

SELYUKH: There are about two job openings now for each job hunter. Many employers can't afford to fire people, and even if they do, so what? Lots of options out there. Plus, the pandemic showed that in a crisis, effort may not matter. Layoffs came for slackers and overachievers just the same.

POLLAK: It's kind of like the experience of being dumped. You may sort of act like you don't care as much anymore in the next relationship. And the last thing they want to be is that sucker who spent every Sunday working only to get laid off.

SELYUKH: Well, I'm no sucker, so you can read the rest of the story on npr.org.

Alina Selyukh, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

5 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

6 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

8 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

9 overload   

vt.使超载；n.超载

参考例句：

• Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载，否则船会沉。
• Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。

10 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

13 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

14 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。