Opinion Loud quitting: Catharsis, breakdown

In a 1991 episode of the sitcom Seinfeld, one of the four lead characters, George Costanza, furiously and loudly quits his job after what he believes to be mistreatment at the hands of his boss (he was not allowed to use the executive toilet). In the glorious first act, Costanza tells off his superior, before storming off. In 2024, a viral video shows a Pune man quitting his job in a similarly thunderous fashion: Having arranged for dhol players to be present, he submits his resignation to an increasingly irate boss, before dancing off to freedom.

The video is part of a recent trend in workplace dissatisfaction, which has been described as “loud quitting”. If in 2022, frustrated young workers were “quiet quitting” — expressing their bitterness by doing the bare minimum required for a paycheck — many are now acting more “loudly”, live-streaming the whole process of putting in their notice. For those who feel trapped in toxic work situations, there may be catharsis in announcing their freedom this way, but as the second act of George Costanza’s rebellion showed, after the action comes the reaction — which is mostly one of regret and fear of unemployment.

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Yet, the emergence of “loud quitting” cannot be easily dismissed. It signals a deeper problem of communication between employers and employees. If the post-pandemic decline in the appeal of “hustle culture” and “leaning in” laid bare structures of worker exploitation, the rise of trends such as “bare minimum Mondays”, “lazy girl jobs” and “act your wage” are manifestations of a resentment in search of articulation. For a generation brought up in the age of social media, where few thoughts go unexpressed, “loud quitting” might seem like the only effective response to a corporate culture of compliance and silence.