It’s not just quiet quitting – a 10-year Gallup poll which began at 2014 found that frustrated workers are taking part in “the great detachment”. 

The phenomenon sees “stuck” employees detach from their work, struggling to find meaning or inspiration from their 9-5 and being indifferent, or even resistant, to important new work changes or demands. 

Gallup has speculated that that could be down to growing pains during the return to the office, poorly communicated expectations, increased customer demands post-pandemic, and different work/life balance goals for employees and employers.

Still, responses to a Reddit user’s post shared to r/AskUK, which read: “At what point did you just stop giving a f*** at work?”, provide more personal answers.

Here are some of the most-upvoted responses:

1) “I got to work from home, alone, for a six-month project. After that, going back into the office and trying to swallow the corporate bullshit became impossible.”

“I just couldn’t make myself care. In my last appraisal (and I was senior management) I was labelled an ‘office terrorist’ as not only was I not doing my work I was negatively impacting everyone else’s too. I couldn’t have cared less.”

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2) “I can remember approaching new projects (in corporate banking) thinking, ‘How can I do the best possible job on this?’. After landing a few and not getting much reward other than some nice emails and handshakes, it slowly became: ‘How can I do as little as possible without being deemed to have f*cked up?’.”

Credit: u/cloche_du_fromage

3) “I’m a retail worker. About two weeks ago, a shoplifter pulled a broken bottle on me... that was the first time that I didn’t feel on top of the situation and was genuinely afraid. My managers did nothing about it. Brushed it aside and told me to get on with it.”

“I mentally checked out of this job on that day and haven’t yet returned to being the person I was at work before. I no longer care about my performance. My attitude and work ethic have dropped like a stone and I am searching for a new job... any job.

“If I’d have received some kind of support or even feigned interest from the company I work for, maybe it would be a different story now.” 

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4) “After regularly working many extra hours every week (unpaid), the boss’s brother was employed as office manager and told me off for being 20 mins late one morning, despite working until 9pm the night before.”

“Normal hours were nine to half past five. An instant epiphany occurred, and not a moment extra was spent at work.”

Credit:u/ridiclousslippers2

5) “I usually stop giving a f*ck just after lunch if I’ve had a hearty meal.”

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Do you have anything to add or have thoughts on the above? Let us know!