What caused the recent surge in quiet quitting in the workplace?

The recent surge in quiet quitting is like when kids stop playing their favorite game because they're too tired to keep going.

Imagine you’re on a really long bike ride with your friends. At first, it’s fun and exciting, you all pedal hard, laughing and shouting. But after a while, you get sore, out of breath, and just want to stop. You don’t say anything, but you slow down, and eventually, you stop riding altogether. That's like quiet quitting, people are still at work, but they’re not giving their full effort anymore.

People feel overwhelmed because they have too much to do and not enough time or help. It’s like trying to eat a whole pizza by yourself when you're already full. You can’t finish it all, so you just take one bite, that's the minimum you need to survive.

Also, some people don't feel valued anymore. If their hard work isn’t noticed or rewarded, they might think, Why should I try harder if no one cares? So they just do enough to keep going, not more.

It’s like when a kid stops drawing because the teacher doesn’t notice their pictures anymore. They’re still in class, but they're not putting in all their energy.