Can Black Women “Quiet Quit”?

In between “clean girl” and “soft life”, there’s this new “phenomena” being discussed on Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn about doing your work… and going home. Sounds normal, right?

For those who are unaware, hustle culture and grind culture in the United States is either a choice for Americans to enhance or build toward a better life or it’s the default for Americans who can’t survive on the pay of just one job. In the corporate space that this is typically referring to (in roles where you don’t earn overtime), it means to do your job to the best of your ability and within the constraints of your job description and go home. According to Wikipedia, “the philosophy of quiet quitting is not abruptly leaving a job but starting to do the minimum amount of possible work while keeping the job.”

When I first heard of “quiet quitting”, I assumed it meant to do just enough at work to not get fired, save face, and prepare for your next opportunity. The only quitting is the divorce of doing more work than you signed on to do. Basically, it’s committing yourself to the bare minimum of having a work-life balance.

Here is where it gets tricky for some of us. As a Black woman, you are expected to go above and beyond always. In my experience, I have not been able to get away with doing the bare minimum at work while others can. I’ve also gone and beyond at work and was laid off. You may have heard of the phrase of having to be “twice as good” and honestly, sometimes that does not even payout.

I talk more about this on my YouTube channel, but honestly, I think it’s difficult for Black women to quiet quit. If you work in an environment that supports work-life balance and you? You can probably manage it because that’s the norm. If you work in an environment where you are made to feel like you should be grateful to be there? Absolutely not. If you work in the latter environment, your coworkers and managers will likely act as if there is something wrong with you… when there isn’t.

Be sure to leave a comment if you feel comfortable sharing your thoughts. A bonus if you drop a company with a great work-life balance.