Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year… and also the most performative. Forget festive sweaters and holiday parties—this season, the real workplace trend is *ghostworking*: the act of pretending to be productive while doing very little actual work.
And it’s more widespread than you think.
According to Resume Now’s *Ghostworking Report*, **58% of employees admit to regularly faking productivity**, while another 34% do it occasionally. Some walk around the office clutching notebooks to look busy. Others furiously type gibberish into blank documents just to seem engaged. And nearly everyone—**92% of workers**—has scrolled through job listings during work hours. Some have even edited their resumes (24%) or submitted applications (23%) from company devices.
So why is workplace disengagement at an all-time high—and why is **Gen Z leading the ghostworking charge**?
Why Gen Z Is Ghostworking the Most
You might be tempted to blame laziness or entitlement. But the data tells a different story.
A Clarify Capitol study found that **Gen Z submitted 24.2% of recent job applications during work hours**—slightly ahead of Millennials (23.8%) and far above Gen X (15.2%) and Baby Boomers (17.8%). The reason? Not apathy—but anxiety.
- **63%** of workers say stress or burnout drives their ghostworking.
- **73%** cite emotional exhaustion as the reason they’re job hunting on the clock.
- And **64% of Gen Z workers** fear layoffs—a significantly higher rate than Millennials (45%) or Gen X (41%).
Put simply: Gen Z isn’t ghostworking because they don’t care. They’re doing it because they’re **overwhelmed, insecure, and stuck performing productivity in a system that rewards visibility over output**.
Unlike older generations who grew up in office cultures where “face time” equaled dedication, many Gen Zers entered the workforce during or after the pandemic—accustomed to remote setups where results mattered more than presence. Now, as hybrid and return-to-office mandates rise, they’re being asked to *perform* busyness all over again.
The irony? Their efforts to *look* busy are being misread as disengagement or incompetence—when in reality, they’re just trying to survive in a system that hasn’t caught up with modern work realities.
3 Ways Managers Can Stop Ghostworking—Before It Spreads
The good news? Ghostworking isn’t a character flaw—it’s a **management problem**. And that means it’s fixable. Here’s how leaders can help Gen Z (and all employees) shift from performance to real productivity:
1. **Focus on Output, Not Optics**
Stop rewarding “always-on” behavior. That employee who stays late, says yes to everything, and never pushes back might look dedicated—but they’re likely spread too thin to do high-impact work.
Instead, **measure results, not hours**. Empower your team to prioritize tasks that drive real value, and give them permission to say *no* to low-ROI requests. Productivity isn’t about motion—it’s about meaningful contribution.
2. **Create Psychological Safety Around Workload**
Burnout thrives in silence. If employees feel they’ll be penalized for speaking up about overload, they’ll either ghostwork or quietly quit.
Build trust through regular, judgment-free check-ins. Ask open-ended questions like:
- “What’s slowing you down?”
- “How can I make this easier for you?”
- “Is there anything I can remove from your plate?”
When people feel safe admitting they’re struggling, they’re far less likely to fake their way through the day.
3. **Connect Tasks to Purpose**
Gen Z craves meaning. They’re not just looking for a paycheck—they want to know their work *matters*.
So don’t just assign tasks. **Explain the “why.”** How does this project support the team’s goals? How does it serve customers or advance the company’s mission? Even routine work feels more worthwhile when it’s tied to a larger purpose.
Ghostworking isn’t a Gen Z problem—it’s a **workplace culture problem**. And while headlines may paint this generation as “unemployable,” the real issue lies in outdated expectations, poor communication, and systems that prioritize performance over well-being.
The solution? **Trust, clarity, and humanity.**
When managers stop equating busyness with value and start fostering environments where people can work *authentically*, ghostworking won’t just decline—it’ll become unnecessary.
This holiday season, give your team the best gift of all: the freedom to be real.