Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of U.S. employees suspect return-to-office mandates are a ‘stealth layoff’ designed to drive voluntary attrition and reduce headcount without the cost of severance packages, according to a new survey by resume building platform Enhancv.
The survey, which polled 1,000 full-time U.S. employees who have experienced return-to-office mandates, found 46 per cent of workers admit to ‘coffee badging’ by swiping into the office just long enough to be seen before leaving to work from a location of their choice.
Read: 32% of U.S. managers say return to office was to keep track of employees’ work habits: survey
More than a third (36 per cent) of employees said they’ve applied for new jobs while sitting at their office desk, and the same percentage of workers have started a side hustle for extra financial security since their mandate was announced.
Trust scores dropped to 50 out of 100 among strictly-monitored employees, and generation Z trust scores were nearly 20 points lower than those of baby boomers, highlighting a generational divide in which younger talent views RTO as purely performative.
Notably, 32 per cent of respondents admitted to intentionally reducing their daily output as a form of quiet protest. More than a quarter (27.8 per cent) said they’ve successfully negotiated a personal exception to their return to office policy.
“When 72 per cent of your workforce believes a policy is a trap to make them quit, the ‘culture’ you’re trying to build is already gone,” said Volen Vulkov, co-founder of Enhancv, in a press release. “What we are seeing is a shift from contribution to self-preservation. The office is no longer a hub for collaboration. For many, it’s now a staging ground for the Great Exit.”
Read: 43% of U.S. workers would rather get a divorce than return to office: survey