How A Silent Revolution is Redefining Work and Our Relationship to It
It’s a fight to reclaim lost freedoms and dignity
History has provided more visibility to violent revolutions than silent revolutions because violent disruptions force themselves on our attention. Peaceful resolutions evolve gradually and are mostly invisible from the public gaze.
Silent revolutions can be as transformative as violent revolutions with the added comfort that they don’t spill blood.
One such peaceful revolution has been unfolding in the US labour market for the past six months. It’s called the “Great Resignation” — the extraordinary phenomenon of millions of workers quitting their jobs. Such a mass exodus of workers has never happened in the modern age.
The “Great Resignation” is a silent revolution because it is not organized. It’s a leaderless phenomenon. We haven’t seen thousands of people marching on the streets denouncing corporations and managers. No fiery leader is making passionate speeches, and the popular media has not been incredibly excited by it.
The past revolutions were confined to a country, although the signals and messages reached faraway places.
The impact of the silent revolution unfolding in the US will be felt across the globe because the world is more interconnected than ever before.
The silent revolution’s immediate cause
Many revolutions happened suddenly, but their enabling circumstances germinated long before. Some trend, incident or event tipped the scales in favour of the change. The pandemic catalyzed the silent revolution by shutting down the brick and mortar offices.
Work from home became the norm, and people suddenly tasted the freedom from the tyranny of the stressful commutes, the back-breaking workload and ruthless and insensitive managers and bosses.
Freedom’s taste is addictive; it demands more of it.
“When Covid untethered us from our offices, many people experienced new forms of flexibility, and the taste of freedom left us hungry for more. We started rethinking what we wanted out of work. But the Great Resignation is not a mad dash away from the office; it’s the culmination of a long march toward freedom.”( Adam Grant, Organizational psychologist ad best -selling author)
The protest began long ago
Generational changes undermine cultural habits, attitudes and preferences. The millennials, unshackled from romantic notions about work and its meaning, were unwilling to toil like factory workers during the Industrial Revolution. They saw how their parents sacrificed their personal lives by working for long hours at the office.
There was no job security because employees lost their collective bargaining power as unions faded into oblivion.
The younger workers were not prepared to work as slaves. They had different ideas about work, its meaning and its role in life.
The silent revolution wants to redefine work
The American identity is so closely tied to work that when people meet a new person, they immediately ask,” What do you do?”
Office work dehumanized the employees and stripped them of dignity. Flexible work became the revolution’s mantra.
“ Real flexibility is having the autonomy to choose your people, your purpose and your priorities.”( Adam Grant).
Autonomy is at the root of self-worth. For the millennials, work is a choice, not a compulsion. Work should not supplant life; it should complement life.
The revolt is a quest for the freedom to stand on one’s feet, to be masters of one’s destiny.
Employees want to infuse their meaning into work. Work should enhance the quality of life.
Many millennial workers want to be entrepreneurs or take up part-time jobs.
Final thoughts
The corporate world is facing an unprecedented revolt from the workers. Companies have failed to persuade workers to return to the office.
Inducements and intimidation by companies do not seem to be working. Workers are in no mood to give up the freedoms they enjoyed during the past 18 months.
Will the silent revolution rewrite the rules of engagement between the management and workers? Companies seem unprepared and ill-equipped to handle the workers’ defiance.
The old order is tottering on a shaky foundation. Companies need to shed their business as usual mentality. They need to treat employees as partners and not as mere wage earners.
Flexible work is no longer a distant ideal; it has already arrived and captured the imagination of millions of workers. Resisting the workers’ revolt is not an option for companies because the silent revolution has achieved critical mass. They should coopt the employees in ushering in new work culture, which will add dignity to work while improving the quality of life.
Thanks for reading.
