CEO reveals the simple way he stops employees from ‘quiet vacationing’

A boss has a simple way to stop his employees from taking part in a new workplace phenomenon.

'Quiet quitting' has been a thing for quite some time. In toxic workplace cultures where you're expected to constantly go above and beyond without any real reward, quiet quitting means only doing the duties laid out in your work contract - and nothing more.

More recently, a new workplace phenomenon has emerged and it's pretty similar to its predecessor.

It's called 'quiet vacationing', and involves taking time off work or working from across the world without telling your boss.

And it's proving pretty popular, particularly amongst Gen Z and millennials.

In the US, a shocking 78 percent of employees say that they don't take all of their PTO days. Despite this, they're still taking their breaks - just not officially.

As many as four in 10 millennials admitted that they'd taken unofficial time off without telling their manager.

Speaking about the phenomenon, Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer at The Harris Poll, told CNBC: "There’s a giant workaround culture at play.

"They will figure out how to get appropriate work-life balance, but it’s happening behind the scenes. It’s not exactly quiet quitting, but more like quiet vacationing."

But one CEO thinks he's found a simple way to stop his employees from sneaking out of the office behind his back.

David Barkoe, the CEO and founder of Florida PR firm Carve Communications, says it all comes down to having trust.

The CEO of Carve Communications has spoken about the issue of employees taking part in 'quiet vacationing'. (Instagram/@carvecomms)

Speaking to Business Insider, he said: "Go live your life, but get the job done. I'm going to trust you from minute one, from the moment I hire you, to just get the job done, however you feel best to do it."

Carve went fully remote during the pandemic in 2020 and has remained that way ever since.

"It was just working," he said. "People were more motivated."

But, while it might be more challenging to keep track of everyone at a company with thousands of employees, he said: "As a small organization, if you're not doing your job, it's pretty hard to hide."

Barkoe believes that so many people end up 'quiet vacationing' because they don't feel like their employer trusts or respects them.

He says that the open and flexible culture in his company means employees don't feel like they need to sneak away just to take a break.

"It's absolutely culture-driven," he said.