Niamh Shackleton
Employees are taking time off work but are purposely not telling their bosses about it.
After the pandemic, hybrid working has become the norm for many companies across the globe, with employees only having to come into the office for certain days of the week.
As of last year, around 68 percent of US employers offer some form of work location flexibility, said Forbes, while a only a third expected full-time office work.
This number will likely go up in the coming months, however, in the wake of Donald Trump's executive order that stopped remote work for federal employees and demand that they return to in-person work, despite office spaces reportedly being in disarray.
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But, for the lucky folks who are still able to work remotely, they're able to 'quiet vacation'.
It's kind of similar to a 'workation' which sees employees head off on vacation, but they're technically still working, just from a different location.
It means staff can enjoy working in a new place, without taking any of those precious annual leave days.
Of course, it's much easier for employees who work entirely remotely and don't have to appear in many meetings or calls.
But there's another, slightly more sinister trend going around, which sees millennials appearing to be working but really they're doing other things, such as getting their hair done, seeing friends or even relaxing at home.
So how do they pull it off?
Apparently, scheduling emails and sending the odd message to keep things ticking over helps create the idea that they're busy at their laptops.
People are gushing over the scheduling option on social media.
One person penned on Twitter: "Thank God for GMail's 'schedule send' feature because most of the time I do my task ahead of their deadlines and just schedule send them a day before so my boss or the clients think I'm taking my time when I'm just really just chilling."
Another said: "Scheduling the emails an hour after work starts so it looks like I'm locked in but I'm still in bed."
Probably not. Should your boss find out, I imagine they won't be very happy and you may risk losing your job.
Elsewhere, this type of vacation won't give you the proper R&R that you need.
Speaking on this, Karyn Rhodes, VP of HR Services at isolved, told Forbes: "These ‘hush trips’ are just a temporary solution. Without truly unplugging from work and establishing work-life boundaries, employees are more likely to burn out over time, negatively impacting their well-being and productivity."
Long story short, you're probably best just booking the time off so you can fully disconnect without fearing repercussions.