WFH employee in Europe vacationed in Italy for a month, took 7 days off: ‘Rigid expectations around work are archaic’

“I consider myself a motivated person, but at my current job, I don’t have to work hard to get the tasks done,” the employee told Business Insider. The employee, who is based in Europe, joined a San Francisco-based technology company three years ago and works from home. After joining the company, the employee noticed that the company didn’t have many expectations from them. Their team manages a database, leaving them with a lot of free time at their disposal.

When the company introduced a return to office (RTO) policy, the employee got furious and became a “quiet quitter”, meaning that they were doing the bare minimum and logging off. They worked just three hours a day and pretended to work the rest of the time. They attended meetings, responded to messages, and asked important questions during meetings, creating the impression that they were working with full dedication.

Meanwhile, they did chores, grocery shopping, played video games, and called friends and family. If they met a friend after work, they would log off early and stay active on the company’s messaging platform. Surprisingly, despite doing the bare minimum, they received rave reviews during appraisals.

Additionally, the employee started “quiet vacationing”, secretly taking time off while their manager believed they were working. For the past two years, they have been travelling without taking official leave.

During their month-long vacation in Italy, they took just seven days of leave. They logged in each morning, checked emails and messages, and planned their day accordingly. They went sightseeing, dined out, and returned just in time for meetings. They managed this by using a mouse jiggler to appear online on the internal communications system.

The employee admits the fear of getting caught looms over them, but if they ever were, they would argue that they do their job and what else is expected of them.

Their successful visit to Italy without raising suspicion has given them the confidence to plan another quiet vacation in the future.

“Rigid expectations around work are archaic. I could do my job 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world. Why are we having regulations about the hours that I’m online or where I’m working from?” they stressed.