The great office illusion: When 33% of workers master the art of fake productivity

Imagine peeking into a typical office. What do you see? Focused employees immersed in work? Think again! According to the latest research, a third of office workers are engaged in… pretending to be busy (PIB).

An organization with the telling name Workhuman (“Work, you little human!”) conducted a survey among 3,000 office workers from the US and UK. The results? Simply astonishing!

33% of respondents admitted to regularly engaging in “faux-ductivity”. From fantastical filling of timesheets to mimicking mouse movements – the arsenal of a modern slacker is impressive!

But here’s what’s truly shocking: among managers, there were more masters of pretending to be busy than among regular employees – 37% versus 32%. And top managers even broke all records – 38%!

What does this mean? Perhaps the higher you climb up the career ladder, the better you master the art of PIB. Or maybe it’s the mastery in imitating work that helps you climb up the career ladder?

And remember: the main thing is not to forget to move the mouse so that the AI productivity tracker doesn’t bust you. After all, in the world of modern offices, it’s not the strongest who survives, but the craftiest!

So the next time you see the boss striding importantly down the hallway, think: could it be a grandmaster of pretending to be busy right in front of you?