The phrase "quiet quitting" — referring to a phenomenon in which employees reduce their enthusiasm at work and stick to the minimum expectations of their role — gained traction on social media and in the news in 2022, and continues to be referenced today. Other phrases have also gained traction in recent years as workers were reassessing their work and roles, including "grumpy staying" and "bare minimum Mondays."
Members of Generation Z in entry-level jobs have often coined these phrases in reaction to increased dissatisfaction at work. Some employees have also expressed their dissatisfaction by "rage applying."
Now a new workforce workplace trend is gaining steam: "coffee badging." The trend refers to workers showing up to the office for their morning coffee and required attendance, but then leaving the office and working from home the rest of the day, according to CNBC.
Fifty-eight percent of hybrid employees coffee badge, and an additional 8% say they haven't but would like to try it.
The findings come from Owl Labs, a company that makes videoconferencing devices. Owl Labs surveyed 2,000 full-time workers in the U.S. in June.
Owl Labs also found that men (62%) tend to coffee badge more than women (38%). Additionally, among hybrid workers, 63% of millennials coffee badge compared to 54% of Gen X, 43% of Gen Z, and 38% of baby boomers, according to the survey.
The practice of coffee badging could mean people enjoy being in their office some of the time, but another subset of people may be using coffee badging as a way to "show their face in an old traditional way that we used to work" without the full day in their office, Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs, said, according to CNBC.
"The standard has been set around flexibility in terms of where you work, and now the standard is starting to become flexibility in when you work," Mr. Weishaupt adds. However, "the office still has a place," Mr. Weishaupt said. "I don't think anybody would question that."