From a young age Harry Johnston knew he didn't want to sit at a desk all day in an office. Photo / Harry Johnston
One Aussie has revealed how he travels the world, was able to ditch university, and is planning to buy his first investment property – all at the age of 19.
Harry Johnston grew up in Melbourne's CBD where he was very used to seeing the hustle and bustle of people getting to work in the morning.
"Everyone seemed so in sync, wearing their suits, ready to sit at their desks all day. Even as a young kid I never saw myself doing this," he told news.com.au.
With the "quiet quitting" trend sweeping through Aussie offices, many workers – young people in particular – are searching for ways to lessen the load of the daily grind, while also still making money.
Quiet quitting is essentially a rejection of the idea that work has to take over your life and that you, as an employee, should be going above and beyond in your role.
Instead, people are now reverting to only performing the duties outlined in their job description and politely declining to take on any more responsibilities outside of that or work longer hours than necessary.
Johnston has taken a slightly different approach to gaining more freedom in his working life, though he said his choice shares a lot of similarities with the quiet quitting movement.
Knowing he didn't want to be burning himself out working in an office every day, the 19-year-old decided to forge a different path.
He started freelancing during his final year of high school in April 2020 by offering marketing services for companies across a range of different industries.
"I had just started year 12 and lockdown was only recent news. I needed something to fill the extra time when I wasn't studying – and I've always been able to smell out money and where I can put my skills to best use," he said.
During that first year while he was still at school, Johnston earned $20,000, leading him to realise this was something he could turn into a career after graduation.
As is the natural progression for many Aussie students, Johnston started university in 2021 but quickly realised that something felt off.
He had already been doing the work of second year graduate for an entire year and was now being taught things he was already using in his working life.
"I had to make a decision – spend most of my week working towards a degree that would 'officially' qualify me or spend my weeks getting a qualification by experience," he said.
"Neither of my parents went to university but built amazing careers as journalists so I knew it could be done."
So, he dropped out of university and 18 months after leaving high school he had made A$70,000 just through freelance work.
Johnston's work is now primarily focused on providing marketing services for the financial services industry by offering branding, copywriting, and content strategy.
His main way of getting freelance work has been through a platform called UpWork that connects businesses to independent professionals.
However, if there is a particular company Johnston wants to work with he reaches out to them on LinkedIn.
The biggest company he has worked with so far is financial services company Square, which is owned by one of the founders of Twitter.
Freelancing compared to 'quiet quitting'
The 19-year-old said there are a lot of similarities between the style of work as a freelancer and someone who has adopted the quiet quitting trend.
"Those who have quietly quit are doing the bare minimum and signing off at exactly 5pm. When it comes to freelancing, you're not doing the bare minimum but you can choose when and how you want to work," he explained.
"If you're overloaded and need a week off you can do that without any oversight. You learn to manage yourself and get a feel of what times of the day you work best.
"If I'm not enjoying the work I'm doing with a client anymore I can end the contract and start more interesting work. It lets you take up opportunities that are exciting and fulfilling."
One Aussie worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told news.com.au he "quiet quit" his job in March this year after an "insulting" move from the company he worked for.
"After identifying major inefficiencies within the business, I planned, executed and delivered A$8 million a year in savings," he said
"I thought I was in for a good pay rise or bonus."
However, he was less than impressed after his hard work was rewarded with a bonus of 4 per cent of his salary and a 2 per cent pay rise, which ultimately resulted in a "real wage cut" due to inflation.
"For A$8 million of cost savings, I thought it was insulting and quiet quit!" he said, adding he only recently found out there was a term for what he had done.
Lauren Berry, people and culture manager at people-management platform Employment Hero, said the idea of quiet quitting could be considered a subset of the Great Resignation.
"This concept speaks to that ongoing trend that has come out of Covid. Individuals are re-evaluating their priorities and their work is front and centre of that re-evaluation for the first time in many years," she told news.com.au.
"Many things have changed, and there is a greater desire for flexibility, putting more boundaries between work and life, and shifting the mindset from living to work to working to live."
Berry said having strong boundaries around work is essential to preventing burnout, particularly in fully remote organisations.
She believes this should be viewed by employers as a "readjustment of expectations", rather than proof of discretionary effort.
"Employees do not want to work significant amounts of overtime anymore, they want to bring their whole selves to work, to spend time with their families and they want flexibility – the Great Resignation has told us that and this is an extension of those desires," Berry said.
More Aussies turning away from the daily grind
One of the most exciting parts of working as a freelancer is the freedom that comes along with it, with Johnston saying it has allowed him to travel all over the world while still earning an income.
He is based in Barwon Heads, a small beach town near Victoria's Great Ocean Road, but is currently working from the UK.
"This year I've been working from all around the world – soaking up the start of the American warm weather in LA from March to May and then the European summer since May," he said.
And he isn't the only one embracing this new approach to working, with the 19-year-old saying he has met countless other Aussies doing the same thing.
"Australians are leading the world in freelancing. Our honest way of doing business appeals to foreign businesses and there's so much opportunity out there.
"Staying in hostels throughout the world is where I've met these people working remotely. We call ourselves digital nomads. We make the world our home while also working hard to afford the life many desire."
However, Johnston said freelance work can be tricky as your earnings fluctuate from week to week.
"I get paid different amounts each week from several clients. No payday is ever certain. Some weeks can range from A$800 to A$1700.
"I charge my clients per hour so if I work more I get paid more. It's really in my hands. I charge up to A$150 per hour for my services and cater that towards the revenue of each client I work with."
Johnston said coming into a significant amount of money at a young age presented its own challenges.
He found himself able to afford a lot of things his friends couldn't and he had to quickly become financially literate.
"Living with my parents means I have minimal expenses other than travel. I hope to buy my first investment property by the end of next year and use my freelancing to get a financial head start," he said.
The teen said he often gets messages from recruiters offering him fulltime positions at companies across Australia in the US, however, at the age of 19 he is not yet ready to commit to a single company.
"My goal in the next 12 months is to set up a full-service marketing agency, hiring some employees and building out a really strong team.
"Businesses in Australia are struggling to appeal to the tech-savvy and financially smart young Australians and that can only be solved by having people of that demographic providing the solutions."
'The inclination is not to do too much,' Forsyth Barr analyst Peter Sigley said.