A new viral trend on TikTok is encouraging people to reconsider going the extra mile while on the job. “Quiet quitting” has been gaining popularity among social media users, and while it doesn’t entail turning in a resignation as the name suggests, it instead aims to help employees everywhere find a better work-life balance.

Whether that means refusing to take on tasks outside of an agreed-upon scope of employment or clocking out right at the end of a shift, quiet quitting is being used as a way to set boundaries in the workplace.

The movement has been pushed largely by young professionals, as many of them begin the transition into office life following the COVID-19 pandemic. For some, working from home is all they have known up until this point in their careers. Some experts have suggested that remote work has blurred the lines between living life and being on the job, leading to employees feeling burnt out. It is an assertion that data has shown to line up with.

Survey data released by Gallup earlier this year found that just 32% of employees polled said they were engaged at work, a drop off from 36% percent the year prior, which marked the first annual decline of workplace engagement in over a decade.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 7.5% drop in U.S. workplace productivity during the first quarter of 2022, the steepest fall in employee output since 1947.

“Pre-pandemic, getting a promotion or pay rise might have been the primary definition of success, but things look a little different in this new landscape,” James Barrett, managing director at recruitment firm Michael Page, told The Daily Mail. “The past two years have caused people to sit back and take stock of what really matters to them.”

However, the trend has not existed without enduring some criticism.

"If you're listening to social media for career advice, then you're an idiot."

Experts have said more and more people are ‘quiet quitting’ their jobs, where employees do the bare minimum if they feel their job is not meaningful. @JJAnisiobi | @TVKev pic.twitter.com/NTWOJLjEY0

— The Talk (@TheTalkUK) August 8, 2022

While its defenders argue the trend promotes better mental health practices, quiet quitting has also been labeled as just another term for lazy and an excuse to do the bare minimum by others.