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Original poster

Lie Flat Movement

24 replies

antelopevalley · 01/09/2022 11:55

This is a Chinese movement about dropping out from the rat race and living simply.

But have other seen on social media memes encouraging people to skive at work using the lie flat slogan? I have and they very much push the idea your bosses do not give a shit about you, so do the bare minimum.

I am left wondering who is behind this? Is it an organised group, or just an individual taking inspiration?

OP posts:
KnowtheBand · 01/09/2022 12:08

I saw this about quiet quitting yesterday.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62638908

Whilst I completely sympathise re employers who just expect everything, I don't think doing only the bare minimum is the way to a fulfilled life.

chantico · 01/09/2022 12:13

I hadn't seen this, and it's a spectacularly bad idea unless you want to see your employing organisation/company fail.

Original poster
antelopevalley · 01/09/2022 12:15

Thanks for that article, that is what I have seen.
I think it depends on the job. If you work in retail or an Amazon warehouse, why should you do more than your job description and paid hours?

OP posts:
Original poster
antelopevalley · 01/09/2022 12:16

@chantico Organisations fail because of poor managers, not because people stick to their job description.

OP posts:
WhatNoRaisins · 01/09/2022 12:20

I've always just done what I need to at work. Unless you're gunning for a promotion what's the point, in my experience managers actually have less respect for people that go out of there way when they don't need to.

Solosunrise · 01/09/2022 12:26

chantico · 01/09/2022 12:13

I hadn't seen this, and it's a spectacularly bad idea unless you want to see your employing organisation/company fail.

Do think people should be doing more hours etc than they are paid for?

Solosunrise · 01/09/2022 12:26

antelopevalley · 01/09/2022 12:16

@chantico Organisations fail because of poor managers, not because people stick to their job description.

Yes I agree!

chantico · 01/09/2022 12:34

Solosunrise · 01/09/2022 12:26

Do think people should be doing more hours etc than they are paid for?

Show quote history

No, and I didn't say that.

OP was about skiving because of a feeling that your boss doesn't care about you.

I oppose skiving, and think people should be putting their full attention and best efforts on to their work during working hours, irrespective of your opinion of your boss and wider management.

A business full of actual skivers is unlikely to flourish and therefore - especially in straitened times - might fail.

I am not so stupid or underinformed to think that there are not other causes of business failure. But neither do I think that the existence of other causes somehow means that skiving has no deleterious effects (esp a campaign to encourage mass skiving)

Skiving isn't work to rule. It's doing less than you are meant to.

RoseAndRose · 01/09/2022 12:36

antelopevalley · 01/09/2022 12:16

@chantico Organisations fail because of poor managers, not because people stick to their job description.

You said skiving in the opening post.

Now you're saying work to rule (ie sticking to JD)

Which do you mean? They're totally different concepts!

Original poster
antelopevalley · 01/09/2022 12:45

Yes they are different and I did say skiving. I have seen memes on social media encouraging skiving - which I am doing at the moment. I have never seen this before but suddenly seen various ones which piqued my interest. I wondered where they originated from suddenly.

Someone else posted an article about working to rule and quite quitting, this is a phrase I have seen used in memes I have seen on social media.

OP posts:
LittleMissLaundry · 01/09/2022 12:46

I think smartphones really changed the workplace and expectations. Suddenly you could read your emails before going to bed, or on a Saturday afternoon, or you'd find yourself just quickly sorting sone work related thing during a family bbq. And lots of the time its easiest to just reply straight away. But this then leads to the expectation that you're always 'on call'. And it stopped being just one odd email in a blue moon. It became a daily thing. Who now doesn't check their emails on holiday?

A decade or so ago i pulled dh up on it. Hed come home from work, eat dinner, check his emails and disappear into doing more work. Which had never happened till he got his smartphone linked to his work email. So we discussed it, and came to an agreement that he'd come home and not check his emails till the dc were in bed and the house was tidied (one of us would put dc to bed, other would do a quick tidy). And then he had a choice, spend time with me or do more work... And magically the world didn't stop, his bosses got used to the fact he wouldn't necessarily reply immediately and things would be dealt with when he got back to the office the next day. This also meant dh stopped emailing his staff outside of work hours.

I think a lot of companies don't realise how much extra time their employees work, or how much this relies on good will from employees. So yeah, i can see why people are choosing to 'lie flat'.

grey12 · 01/09/2022 12:47

Companies shouldn't be enslaving their workers 🤷🏻‍♀️ if they can't pay them, can't treat them fairly or can't pay for a new member of staff to deal with shortages, then they shouldn't be in business

grey12 · 01/09/2022 12:50

https://youtube.com/shorts/oRinR8P3fK4?feature=share

MistressIggi · 01/09/2022 12:53

I work in a school and I feel like I'm skiving right now because I'm on mumsnet - it's my lunch break but I still feel guilty!

Solosunrise · 01/09/2022 12:55

Sorry @chantico! I was thinking in terms of the article, rather than OPs original post. I think it's reasonable for people to stick to their job description, but agree that skiving is a bad thing.

Original poster
antelopevalley · 01/09/2022 12:57

Why is skiving a bad thing?

OP posts:
midgetastic · 01/09/2022 12:59

Skiving is not keeping your side of the bargain

Doing just what you are paid for isn't skiving

Why do more ? Why is your life going toe be unfulfilled if you only view work as a means to support your life ?

grey12 · 01/09/2022 13:00

antelopevalley · 01/09/2022 12:57

Why is skiving a bad thing?

Not doing the work you're expected/contracted to do IS a bad thing. You signed a contract, you have a job, an obligation.

Not doing extra work/extra hours isn't skiving

Original poster
antelopevalley · 01/09/2022 13:00

But employers do not generally care about their staff. If I get long-term ill they will quickly get rid of me. Why do I owe them anything more than I have to give?

OP posts:
midgetastic · 01/09/2022 13:01

That's called self respect

They keep their side of the bargain paying your salary

grey12 · 01/09/2022 13:03

antelopevalley · 01/09/2022 13:00

But employers do not generally care about their staff. If I get long-term ill they will quickly get rid of me. Why do I owe them anything more than I have to give?

You owe them your contracted work and nothing else 😉 and they owe you the monetary compensation for that work

WhatNoRaisins · 01/09/2022 13:06

See for me I don't like skiving but I'm more motivated to pull my weight because I don't want to make things difficult for my colleagues as I wouldn't like to be picking up someone else's slack myself.

I don't especially care about the wider organisation failing, I've not invested my own money in it and I don't stand to gain anything from its success. It's probably well beyond my control if it fails or not in any case.

And yes I've seen colleagues who have been loyal and hard workers for long periods get utterly shafted after developing long term health conditions. No matter how much you give once you're no longer of any use it's completely irrelevant.

Sunnyqueen · 01/09/2022 13:06

Not heard of it but sounds great. I hope it takes off massively. If companies can't manage to pay and treat their staff fairly then the outcome of that should be that they have no staff and thus no company.

Original poster
antelopevalley · 01/09/2022 13:12

@WhatNoRaisins I agree, I will not shaft my colleagues. I also agree that I do not care if the business succeeds or not.
I could cry at how hard I worked in some low-paid jobs when I was young. Those employers did not give a shit about me and yet I worked so hard.
Now I do what I have to do and no more. As long as I hit my targets everyone is happy, so that is all I do. Any extra time I waste on here.

OP posts:
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