As the world grapples with the rising cost of power, one woman in Japan is unfazed by the global energy crisis. 62-year-old Chikako Fujii lives completely off the grid by generating her own electricity with four solar panels installed on the balcony of her apartment. They produce enough to power her few electrical appliances and light up her house at night. On a hot day, she just leaves whatever food she wants to cook in pots on her balcony for a few hours.
Chang Wen Lai’s express delivery service, Ninja Van, is tipped to be one of Southeast Asia’s next $1 billion unicorns. CNBC Make It’s Karen Gilchrist met the 32-year-old CEO in Singapore to hear about his bold bet to go from trading floor to entrepreneur.
Singapore is a tiny country, but it's managed to become an Asian economic hub. CNBC's Xin En Lee explains how the country went from third world to first world.
Jackie Cummings Koski lives in southwestern Ohio and achieved FIRE at 49 years old with $1.3 million. Koski worked at LexisNexis for 20 years earning an $80,000 salary, and reached $1,000,000 in net worth when she was 46. As a single Black mother, Koski says she tried to fight the wealth gap narrative at every turn because she knew no one could help her if she failed. She represents a population rarely thought of when it comes to financial independence and was thrilled to retire early in 2019.
Ryan Stewart is dog walker who makes $100,000 a year in NYC. He works around 6 hours a day, 6 days a week. After working with dogs for over 20 years, Ryan believes that he has become a member of a dog pack.
This is a short summary regarding the previous "Bai Lan" video
“If my boss asks me to do something, I’ll ask if I can do it tomorrow, or if someone else can do it." That's Chinese youths' ‘bai lan’ mantra of not even trying.
"Quiet quitting" is having a moment. The trend of employees choosing to not go above and beyond their jobs in ways that include refusing to answer emails during evenings or weekends, or skipping extra assignments that fall outside their core duties, is catching on, especially among Gen Zers.
Zaid Khan, 24, an engineer from New York, popularized this trend with his viral Tiktok video in July.
"You are still performing your duties, but you are no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentally that work has to be our life," Khan says in his video. "The reality is, it's not, and your worth as a person is not defined by your labor."
In the U.S., quiet quitting could also be a backlash to so-called hustle culture — the 24/7 startup grind popularized by figures like Gary Vaynerchuk and others.
"Quiet quitting is an antidote to hustle culture," said Nadia De Ala, founder of Real You Leadership, who "quietly quit" her job about five years ago. "It is almost direct resistance and disruption of hustle culture. And I think it's exciting that more people are doing it."
Last year, the Great Resignation dominated the economic news cycle. Now, during the second half of 2022, it's the quiet quitting trend that's gaining momentum at a time when the rate of U.S. productivity is raising some concern. Data on U.S. worker productivity posted its biggest annual drop in the second quarter.
So, why is this trend on the rise? Watch the video above to learn whether quiet quitting is hurting the U.S. economy and how it's being seen as part of the Great Resignation narrative