Unpaid overtime is contributing to the industry's increase in quiet quitting, where employees decide to put their feet up and just do the minimum to keep their jobs.
According to LinkedIn News, "a quiet quitter will leave at home time. They will not go above and beyond. They will only do the parts of the job that must be completed to keep things ticking over."
More than 4,400 organisations were surveyed for the annual Hays Salary Guide, and suggest that a rise in overtime could be further provoking quiet quitting.
In 31% of organisations, Hays found the average weekly amount of overtime was more than 10% of standard hours. In a 40-hour working week, this equates to at least four hours extra per week.
In 8% of organisations, the weekly average amount of overtime was more than 21%, or above eight hours per week.
In Australia, 56% of overtime is unpaid.
With 24% of Australians currently looking or planning to look for a new job in the next 12 months cite poor work-life balance as a motivating factor.
And while only 4% of organisations managed to decrease their employees’ level of overtime last financial year, employers must do more to meet employee demands.
While 51% kept overtime rates steady year-on-year, 45% increased overtime further.
Esther Clerehan, talent specialist, founder and CEO of CLEREHAN, told AdNews: "To be honest I had to look up what quiet quitting was and went down quite a TikTok rabbit hole in the name of research. But yes I think it is a real trend.
"Employees need to feel appreciated to work 'above and beyond' after 2.5 years of WFH combined with a lively job market.
"And even with pay bumps, the rising cost of living is real, plus it’s out of date to expect people to work around the clock without good reason and/or compensation.
"But quiet quitters beware, you could be overtaken by a more ambitious underling who wants your job."
In a viral TikTok post on this trend, @zkchillin explained, “You’re not outright quitting your job but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond.”
Nick Deligiannis, managing director of Hays, said: “Skills shortages reached acute levels in the past year, leading many employers to ask their existing team to work longer hours to cover critical gaps.
“We know that 83% of employers say skills shortages will impact the effective operation of their organisation this financial year.
“According to employers, the number one impact will be increased workloads for existing staff (nominated by 71% of employers in the Hays Salary Guide).
“Any increase in overtime is a dangerous signal that staff are under pressure. Morale, health, wellbeing and stress-related absenteeism could all be affected.
“Quitting the idea of going above and beyond. This can either lead to rising turnover or, in a new trend, quiet quitting."
For quiet quitting employees an adequate effort is enough to get by.
To counter rising overtime rates, Hays suggests organisations:
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Leverage tools and software to track working hours, detect overtime patterns and identify predictors of burnout;
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Use employee pulse surveys to measure employee wellbeing;
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Review the team or organisation’s resource model and embed agility so you can scale up for seasonal peaks without negatively impacting employee wellbeing and satisfaction;
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Encourage staff to take time off immediately before or after seasonal peaks.
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