Analysis: The rise in silent holidays can be attributed to how the boundary between work and home has become increasingly blurred
I have a friend who works for a company in the UK and benefits from a flexible work arrangement. Last February, she decided to attend the Rio Carnival, an annual festival held in Rio de Janeiro. She secretly travelled without informing her manager. That week, she would wake up and start work at 5am to account for the time difference between the two cities. She says it was a pain to start that early, but it was totally worth it, because she could relax and enjoy the life of a tourist by lunchtime.
This illustrates a workplace trend known as the 'quiet holiday' where employees secretly take time off whilst appearing to work. They devise strategies to give the impression that they are diligently working from their laptops at home, when they are actually working and relaxing on a beach somewhere. Although my friend above is allowed to work from home, her boss didn't realise that her home that week was in Rio de Janeiro. During work calls, she chose the dullest background of her hotel room to make it seem as though she was at home.
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This work behaviour is quite common among millennial workers. According to an Out of Office Culture survey conducted online by the Harris Poll, 37% of millennial workers have taken time off without informing their manager or employer. In contrast, only 24% of Gen Z workers have exhibited the same behaviour, despite the criticism they often face regarding their work ethic and attitude. The survey also showed that 38% of millennials have "moved their mouse" to appear active on their organisation's messaging system. This year, approximately 41% of employees have taken a quiet holiday.
What are the main reasons for this behaviour? Why is it prevalent? Could it be because employees have limited annual leave days and are reluctant to use them? Or is it due to the work culture?
Firstly, we should examine the work culture in its complete digital form. A potential fundamental cause of this trend is the difficulty in disconnecting from work, stemming from the 'always on' work culture. The ease of accessing emails on our phones and the pressure of looming deadlines contribute to the challenge of unplugging from work. It can also be argued that the inability to detach from work creates anxiety around taking days off.
From The Working Week Show, why are millennial taking quiet holidays - and is it wrong?
Many employees worry that formally requesting annual leave might be perceived as a lack of commitment or that they are imposing a burden on their colleagues. This concern grows in workplaces where time-off requests are often denied. The ongoing guilt and doubt turn what should be a simple task (which is booking a holiday) into a stressful ordeal. As a result, millennials often opt for discreet vacations as a hidden way to take a break without risking work-related criticism. This situation is concerning because if employees feel compelled to take a break and are either unwilling to communicate this openly to their managers or fearful of doing so, it indicates underlying issues within the organisational culture.
The rise in silent holidays can also be directly attributed to the Covid pandemic and exemplify one of the inadvertent outcomes of remote work arrangements. As dining tables or bedroom corners were converted into office spaces from March 2020, discussions centred on how the boundary between work and home became increasingly blurred. Nonetheless, during this time, employees identified strategies to simulate presence. Looking ahead to the present, where many workplaces have continued the remote work policy post-pandemic, the practice of feigning presence persists, and it is considerably easier than requesting time off.
From a managerial perspective, silent holidays may give rise to concerns regarding trust. It can be argued that such mistrust is reflected in the widespread efforts by organisations to encourage their employees to return to the office. In a 2023 survey conducted among SMEs in the UK midlands, it was found that 83% of these businesses preferred their employees to be present in the office for a minimum of three days per week. However, only 20% of employees were willing to comply with this requirement. Moreover, this erosion of trust around remote working does not stop at productivity. It extends directly into how organisations safeguard their most valuable asset: data.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, Petula Martyn looks at how the Covid 19 pandemic drastically changed the way we work
In accordance with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), employers are required to demonstrate their capability to safeguard data, regardless of their employees' location. Remote work environments, particularly those lacking supervision, may present security vulnerabilities. For example, using unencrypted Wi-Fi networks can lead to serious data breaches and such problems can be costly for organisations.
Some might say the location of your work doesn't matter as long as the job is completed. While that's partly true, the risks of a data breach and the inconvenience of waking up early to simulate being in the same time zone make it impractical. Silent holidays are a temporary solution and an ineffective way to unplug from work. Whether seen from a managerial or employee point of view, silent holidays are a breach of trust, undermine transparency and sow suspicion.
Employees should proactively inform managers of their planned holidays and submit the correct leave requests. Managers, on their part, need to provide clear guidelines on remote work and holiday entitlements and encourage open communication regarding leave plans.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
