Viral 'soft days off' trend encouraging workers to slack on company time

Millions have seen and shared content on social media around the phenomenon which has come to prominence in the post-Covid working landscape.

There appear to be different ways of navigating a soft day off, from doing the barest of minimums and keeping an online presence, to doing nothing and enabling AI.

TikTokker Jacqueline has seen her how-to guide clock up more than three million views.

She said: “You’re going to work but you’re not really doing anything, but there is an art to it.”

What is a soft day off?

Taking a soft day off is completing errands, activities around the house, fitness or anything un-work related during office hours, but without taking annual leave.

It is a viral trend that is becoming increasingly elaborate with exponents now posting viral how-to guides, sharing their secrets for masterminding a day off in disguise.

An anonymous soft day off exponent told the Times: “I’ve been working in an IT job at a large UK company for the past four years where I’m well paid even though I don’t have much to do.

“So much so that I have to save my weekly work for the one day a week I make it into the central London office.”

Tips for shared around the internet for getting away with a soft day off include:

• Booking fake meetings to appear busy and unavailable,
• Sending a few emails in one go, but staggering the send time to make them leave your outbox throughout the day,
• Using AI extensions to click around your screen so you appear to be online and active.

The Times informant added: “Even if I wanted to work harder, there just isn’t enough to do to keep me occupied and nobody is watching over me.

“So I use company time for other things. I’ve never once done laundry in the evening and never go into a supermarket when it is busy. I often will call my retired parents for an hour while walking around my local park to fill the time in the day.”

Beyond what has been reported, there is little data or statistics to prove a rise in soft days off or a decrease in productivity.

Of course, soft days off lend themselves to some jobs more than others - while many who do work from home might feel aggrieved that this trend is promoting a reputation that those who WFH are not performing an honest day’s performance.

The phenomenon could also raise questions about general workforce productivity and the prevalence of jobs that are apparently so unnecessary that staff can perform them in much less time than their appointed hours.

Work experts and statistics are not dismissive of working from home being a productive environment for staff, with Kings College London finding that productivity increased by 10.5% among workers at a multinational company which had encouraged it.

Monisha Longacre, a productivity coach, writer and public speaker, told LBC: “WFH can definitely be productive depending on the work that needs to be done.

“For quiet, deep work that requires focused attention, being at home works really well.”