antiwork

Antiwork is an online movement, centred on the Reddit community r/antiwork, that criticises modern working conditions, low pay and the idea that a job should be the centre of your life. As an adjective, “antiwork” describes that attitude.

What antiwork means

The original philosophy behind the subreddit is anti-capitalist and questions whether work as we know it is necessary at all. In practice, most people who use the word mean something milder: frustration with exploitative bosses, unpaid overtime, poor wages and burnout. The forum became famous for screenshots of people quitting toxic jobs and for stories of workplace abuse.

Examples

• “This is going straight to r/antiwork.”
• “I’m not antiwork, I’m anti being paid $10 an hour.”
• “Her resignation text went viral on the antiwork subreddit.”

The 2021–2022 surge

According to Wikipedia, r/antiwork was created in 2013 and had around 13,000 members in 2019. During the pandemic and the wave of resignations that followed, it exploded, passing one million members in November 2021 and 1.7 million by January 2022. That month, a moderator gave an interview on Fox News that many members felt misrepresented the movement; the subreddit briefly went private, and a new community, r/WorkReform, launched in response.

Antiwork vs. quiet quitting

Quiet quitting is a personal choice to do the minimum. Antiwork is a broader critique of the whole system of work.

Related terms

• Quiet quitting: doing only the minimum.
• Acting your wage: matching effort to pay.
• Grindset: the opposite attitude.
• Loud quitting: open, active disengagement.

More workplace terms in our work and money slang guide.