Trapped in underpaid role - "quiet quitting"

I started my career as a Tech IBD analyst and was a top performer. I worked 80+ hours a week, had a positive attitude, and always asked for more work. Eventually, I was promoted to associate. I was smashing it and on track for VP.

After some time, I moved to a new firm focused on a niche in the tech sector. The compensation was quite low, but since it was a niche I'm interested in, I decided to take it.

At first, it was great.. learning about a new sector and meeting new people. But after around 1 year into the role, I realised it was a complete sh*t show. The team is extremely top-heavy, with no analysts or grads, so I ended up doing all the graduate-level grunt work. As a 8-year professional, I’m now the “note taker” in meetings and basically at the bottom of the food chain: updating slides, data mining, and sometimes acting as a PA for seniors,, setting up meetings, preparing bios, etc.

Over time, I lost motivation and understood why the comp was so low. So I decided to “quiet quit.” I’ve stayed hidden: I don’t speak up in meetings, I don’t add value, and I do the bare minimum when I’m asked. I actually don't even listen on meetings I just sit on my phone.

Sometimes when I’m given a task, I lie about how long it will take. I’ll say, “I can get this to you by EOD or tomorrow,” even though I have nothing else to do and it’s quick. I’ll do nothing all day and finish it last minute. Sometimes I leave the office for a 2 hour walk, or when I’m WFH, I spend the day watching Netflix and occasionally replying to messages or joining meetings.

It started because I felt underpaid, then because the work was far below my skill set and experience (maybe this was a bad ego of mine but honestly why should I be writing notes to circulate round after a meeting when i'm 8 years in, or why should i be setting up meetings for people).

Eventually my mindset became: if I’m doing crap work and not being paid well, why bother? Now I’ve genuinely become lazy and feel like I’ve lost my skills and most importantly I've lost my work ethic. I’ve been doing this quiet quitting for 12 months.. (in total I've been at this firm 2 years now)

Sometimes seniors schedule end-of-week catch-ups and ask what I’ve done, and I’ve genuinely done nothing. I make something up and change the topic, but it feels like only a matter of time before I get caught.

I know I’ll never get a pay rise here and I’ll never be promoted. I’m unsure what to do.. do I keep quiet quitting, stay stuck, never make it to VP, and eventually get fired in 1 years? Because it's only a matter of time before they realise.

The biggest problem is I’ve actually become lazy. I’m not even sure I still have the work ethic to join another company. I feel lost. Sometimes my friends say they're jealous of me and wish they had my role where they can do nothing and get paid but it's really not as good as it sounds.. I'm getting dumber (I've genuinely forgotten so much around IBD and lost my skill set that I will suck in future interviews).. I'm getting extremely lazy, and my salary is low for my experience with 0 progression..