No matter how fun your job is, how swanky your office or lovely your colleagues are, you still clock in each morning for the express purpose of getting paid.
Aside from a few (arguably deranged) lottery winners who kept on working after their windfall, the vast majority of us are in employment because we need the money.
Yet for some reason, salaries are a forbidden topic for employees; we’re supposed to keep schtum about what we earn, to be grateful for the fact we have a job in the first place and to go above and beyond in the hopes of keeping it.
Needless to say, this isn’t a healthy part of office culture. And it’s one that more and more people are pushing back on.
The younger generation in particular are saying no to hustle culture, with quiet quitting giving way to a new trend on CareerTok: acting your wage.
TikToker Sarai Soto recently brought the term to our attention with a series of skits about modern office life, explaining to Insider: ‘If a company is paying you, let’s say minimum wage, you’re gonna put in minimum effort.’
Sarai, 30, continued: ‘If you’re acting your wage, that means the amount of labour you’re putting in reflects the amount that you’re getting paid.’
Acting your wage is similar to quiet quitting in many ways. Both involve sticking to your job description and refusing to go above and beyond, both are responses to poor working conditions, and both have proven divisive online.
Where acting your wage differs, however, is that it’s anything but quiet.
The idea isn’t to gradually tap out at work and fly under the radar of mediocrity, but to stop giving time to tasks you aren’t rewarded for – and then ask for the rewards you deserve.
If, for example, you’re always being asked to supervise shifts without a supervisor title or paycheck, you let your manager know that this is outside of your remit and you’ll do so when – and only when – you’re fairly remunerated. They can then decide what to do with that information.
Critics have called the practice a form of ‘slacking’ and ‘coasting’, but financial worry – not laziness – is at the forefront of the decision for many.
According to a poll from recruiter Robert Walters, pay is the leading reason why workers under 30 choose to do the ‘bare minimum’. Additionally, HR company Personio found that 69% of employees are concerned about paying for essentials, with 20% worrying they’ll need to take on a second job to support themselves.
Acting your wage may be work-to-rule repackaged for the digital age, but like any form of industrial action it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Low pay, poor working conditions, and impossibly high output requirements are rife, and we’re seeing staff from across a wide range of sectors taking to picket lines in protest.
The problem is, this creates a stalemate; employees become demotivated by poor pay and see a drop in productivity, then employers become even more reluctant to reward what they see as substandard work. So where do we go from here?
‘Employers will be unable to increase pay at the same rate of inflation – that’s a fact,’ says Toby Fowlston, CEO of Robert Walters. ‘This is where softer perks and benefits really do have a chance to make a difference. Increasingly we are seeing utility vouchers, travel cards, and streaming subscriptions all being offered to prospective employees.’
Managers should be aware of staff workloads and avoid piling on extra tasks, not only to ensure everything’s getting done but also to address signs of burnout before they escalate. In lieu of a pay rise, being ‘seen’ and treated with compassion can go a long way.
From the worker’s side, it’s important to still do your job with the same professionalism and competence as normal. Act your wage if you feel overworked and underpaid, but be aware that this may open you up to added scrutiny.
Communicate your reasoning clearly when you push back against unrealistic expectations so that it doesn’t just seem like you’re being obstinate.
Eventually, however, you may have to accept that it’s time to move on. Setting a boundary like this can take time, but if you’ve respectfully asked for a pay rise or title change multiple times to no avail, it’s unlikely things will change.
Instead of begging for what you’ve earned, it’s better to go somewhere it’ll be freely offered – and you may even get a thank you for your efforts too.
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