'Coffee badging' is the new office trend and employers are not happy about it

The new trend for employees called “coffee badging” has their bosses not very happy with them over it.

Ever since the birth of “quiet quitting” - which is where employees don’t put any more effort into their jobs than is absolutely necessary - grind culture appears to have taken a turn.

It seems like long gone are the days where people would work round the clock, often taking pride in the fact that they’ve had no sick days or sometimes not even using all of their annual leave.

"Coffee badging" is the latest trend for employees who don't want to be in the office (Maskot/Getty)

According to a recent poll, workplace engagement is down the drain, with roughly 50% of people surveyed saying they’re not engaged with their work and another 16% saying they’re actively disengaged.

There’s definitely been a change in attitude since the Covid pandemic and working from home has become a new way of life.

Now, the latest trend is “coffee badging” which is where a worker will go into the office for a few hours just to show their face.

They will usually kill time by grabbing a coffee with colleagues or taking part in a meeting but then will leave to carry out their work remotely.

Many workers go to the office to show their face before promptly leaving (Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty)

According to a survey by Owl Labs, 58% of hybrid workers admit to checking in at the office before promptly checking out.

Speaking to NBC Los Angeles, David Satterwhite, who is the CEO of software firm Chronus, said: “Employees have become accustomed to the flexibility of working from home and may only come to the office when absolutely necessary.

“It's just too hard to put that genie back in the bottle.”

He went on to add: “The issue isn't just about employees badging in and out; it's about what drives this lack of motivation and interest.”

Employers are trying to crack down on working from home (Kathrin Ziegler/Getty)

According to research, workers are a lot more engaged with their job when they have opportunities to develop, which Satterwhite said that, “without these, 'coffee badging' is just a symptom of a deeper problem”.

This has led some companies to crack down on the amount of time their staff is allowed to spend working remotely.

Some firms, like Dell, have introduced a “return to office” mandate where their hybrid workers will be required to be in the office for a minimum of 39 days per quarter.

Although, this hasn’t pleased their staff after they revealed that employees working remotely would be overlooked for promotions.

Nearly half of their full-time staff have reportedly refused to come into the office.