'Quiet cracking' is the latest buzzword to hit the workplace

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Welcome back to our Sunday edition, where we round up some of our top stories and take you inside our newsroom. Multi-thousand-dollar tabs. Endless emails. A three-figure chicken tender tower. Staff from The Surf Lodge, a popular Hamptons hot spot among young Wall Streeters, spoke to Business Insider about what it's like to work there — and what it's like to tell some powerful people "no."

On the agenda today:

• How one woman's Instagram became the obsession of dozens of swindled men.
• Get hot, do drugs, build a bunker: Meet the AI apocalypse super preppers.
• Silicon Valley's young founders are giving up alcohol to go "grind mode."
• Inside JPMorgan's new Manhattan headquarters — and its high-end perks.

But first: White-collar workers are "quiet cracking."

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This week's dispatch

Forget quiet quitting

There's a new buzzword taking over workplace culture.

Employees are "quiet cracking" — the silent struggle of feeling dissatisfied at work but unable to do much about it. It's not quite burnout, but it's the feeling that can lead to burnout.

My colleagues Sarah Jackson and Henry Chandonnet have been following this trend closely in recent days. They've talked to workers who describe what it feels like and how they navigated it, including one person who said he actually experienced it 15 years ago.

We also asked you if you had experienced "quiet cracking." More than 200 people responded to our survey, with the vast majority saying they had.

You might think, if things are so bleak, why won't these workers just quit, move on, or get another job?

In this economy, it's not so simple. Some people are just grateful to be employed, particularly as job growth is slowing and finding a job is so tough right now.

Unhappy workers might also stay because they need the paycheck, or they worry that another job will be more of the same. Change can be scary and risky, so maintaining the status quo is often the easiest thing to do.

The "Big Stay," those resisting the urge to quit, is also quite different from just a few years ago. Job switching was plentiful during the Great Resignation, when workers often had an upper hand with management. "Quiet quitting," or workers who were able to get by without taking their jobs too seriously, was a common refrain in 2022 and 2023.

But now, "quiet cracking" is emblematic of bigger trends sweeping across corporate America. Companies are getting leaner, more efficient, and more hardcore about their operations. Layoffs are increasingly common across industries. As Business Insider's Aki Ito put it, workplace loyalty is dead.

One survey respondent described his "quiet cracking" symptoms to us: "Huge lack of motivation, fatigue. Constant feeling of being unheard."

Yet for all the "quiet cracking" out there, there's another side of the story that can't be ignored: at least these folks still have jobs.

What do you think of quiet cracking? Are you suffering from it or know a colleague who is? Let me know what you think: srussolillo@businessinsider.com.

Are you my scammer?

Over a dozen men around the world told BI they'd fallen victim to one specific scheme: They were sucked into online relationships with a woman who slowly convinced them to invest more and more into a fake asset, until they lost everything.

Then, an apparent mistake by the scammer led the men to each other. Together, they found a real person who looked like the scammer — a climate change advocate with a large Instagram following.

She was a victim, too.

From AI to YOLO

A growing number of Silicon Valley denizens believe AI is going to fundamentally transform society — and soon. It's pushed them to radically revamp their lives right now.

The changes they've implemented range from getting divorced to spending their retirement savings and building doomsday bunkers. For some, it's driven by a belief that AI will soon unlock a new wave of human flourishing. For others, it's driven by the fear that an AI-driven apocalypse is imminent, and the little time left should be spent doing what really matters.

The bucket list mentality.

Going San Francisco-sober

Drinking is declining nationally, and young people seem to be leading the charge. Still, in San Francisco, the (non) drinking culture is built different.

Business Insider spoke to nine young founders in Silicon Valley, most of whom had given up alcohol or dramatically cut back. Some said they might still drink in New York but abstained in San Francisco, thanks to the city's "lock in" and "grind mode" culture. In some cases, they abstain because they want to signal dedication to that startup grind.

"Your body's a temple."

JPMorgan Chase's new HQ

One of America's biggest banks is gearing up to open their new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue in Manhattan. While the exact move-in date is still unclear, the 60-story skyscraper is full of amenities and luxury perks.

JPMorgan employees told BI that the bank has been posting updates on its intranet. The new headquarters will include a state-of-the-art gym — which employees have to pay a membership fee to access — an Irish pub, food hall, AI tech, and more.

Take a look.

Also read:

• What's on the menu at JPMorgan's new headquarters

This week's quote:

"We're accidentally training an entire generation to be workplace hermits."

— Clinical health psychologist Laura Greve on workers developing unhealthy attachments to AI chatbots.

More of this week's top reads:

• Exclusive:Microsoft is trying to poach Meta AI talent and offering multimillion-dollar pay packages, internal documents show.
• The new metric bosses are tracking: How often you use AI.
• US bankruptcies are surging past 2020 pandemic levels.
• The DIY cage armor in Ukraine keeps getting weirder, wilder — and more 'Mad Max.'
• The protein bros have won.
• The buzz around THC drinks is going flat.
• Government data is now in question. Here's where macro investors are turning to fill the gaps.
• Exclusive: AI startup Perplexity is raising more money at a $20 billion valuation.

• Welcome to Super City, USA.

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  The BI Today team: Steve Russolillo, chief news editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Akin Oyedele, deputy editor, in New York.Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York.

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