How going above and beyond at work became required
Remember my article about quite quitting? Well this one is related a little bit. These days, workers expect to exceed their job descriptions if they want to get ahead — or even keep their positions at all. How did we get here? Whether it’s staying late, working through the weekend to perfect a project, or showing up no matter what, many employees routinely put in more hours and perform more tasks than their job description sets out. And though for some, that extra effort is about getting one step ahead in their career, for others, it feels like a built-in, minimum expectation from their employer. This reality has been laid bare by the quiet quitting phenomenon, where disengaged workers refuse to work beyond the hours and tasks they’re paid to do. It’s sparked a wildfire discussion, central to which is the idea of how normalised it’s become to expect workers to do more and more in the first place. The reality is that a workplace culture that requires employees to go the extra mile...