I read about “quiet quitting” and watched this interview: https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2022/08/20/quiet-quitting-work-page-west-smerc-vpx.cnn and it seems like quiet quitting is deemed to be some kind of new phenomenon, yet it feels odly familiar.
I did some looking around and I remembered, that I know it by another name: “Dienst nach Vorschrift” ( https://de-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Dienst_nach_Vorschrift?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp ), the wikipedia article ( the official english one is not as detailled ) mentions that the concept is even as old as 1892. And “Innere Kündigung” a closely related topic ( https://de-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Innere_K%C3%BCndigung?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp ) is documented since 1982.
I would assume people have been in this situation before and reacted in exactly the same way as people do today, otherwise there wouldn't be a word for it. So I guess it is the circumstances and not “Gen Z” or “Millenials” or whoever else being lazy.