We’ve had quiet quitting, we’ve had JOMO (the “joy of missing out”), and we’ve had the Human Energy Crisis – but have you heard of the “loud labourer”, and could they be at this very minute cramping your work style?
While a lot of attention has been paid to quiet quitters, André Spicer, a professor of organisational behaviour and dean of Bayes Business School, says we should instead be looking at their noisier cousins – the “loud labourers”.
What is a loud labourer – and how to spot one
“If you have had a colleague who spends more time talking about work than actually doing it, then you have witnessed a loud labourer first-hand,” he explains, adding that they spend more time “grafting for the ‘gram and toiling for the tweets” than actually getting anything done.
Before, you may have noticed when a colleague loudly sighed or muttered at their desk in a clear display of “Look how hard I’m working”. These days, you’re more likely to hear loud labourers waxing lyrical about all the work they’re about to do during video calls or constantly updating their social channels with a list of things they are “working on”.