Remote workers waste an hour a day on 'productivity theater,' says new report

Working from home was supposed to end “productivity theater” – trying to look busy at work – but a new report says that remote workers still spend over an hour showing their coworkers and bosses they are still present and “working.”

Software companies Qatalog and Gitlab surveyed 2,000 U.S. and U.K. “knowledge workers” and found many were working like they were still in the office, with 54% saying they feel pressure to show they are online at certain times of the day.

“We had a golden chance to say goodbye to the rigid 9-5, but it appears we’re still stuck in old habits of presenteeism, and technology is making things worse,” said the authors in a statement, referring to the in-person practice of sitting at your desk to show they are “working.”

The report, titled “Killing Time at Work,” found the average worker an additional 67 minutes online each day to avoid suspicion for their peers they are not working hard enough, like attending Zoom meetings they know will be “worthless” or responding to emails and messages at strategic times.

It called for more “asynchronous work,” where people on the same team complete work on their own schedule without the expectation of immediately responding to peers, and noted a key barrier was traditional managers who prefer a traditional 9-to-5 schedule in the office.

The COVID-19 pandemic shook up the tech industry by forcing away from the lavish office buildings they used to attract talent.

Industry trade groups have pressed Washington for more skilled-worker visas, arguing that the rise of remote work during the pandemic will lead to the offshoring of tech jobs, especially to Canada.

Remote workers who decided to leave the states have sometimes met resistance locals in their host countries that accuse them of gentrifying neighborhoods and not doing enough to learn the language and culture.

But these workers have clashed with their old-school management as the pandemic wains. In April, a poll found most Americans would consider leaving their jobs if forced to returned to the office.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote to employees on May 31 that: “"Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week," Musk said in the email. "If you don't show up, we will assume you have resigned."