Welcome to One Minute WorkLife. Today, we’re diving into ghostworking—no ghosts required. Ghostworking is when employees create a facade of productivity, from fake phone calls to random keyboard clacking, just to look busy. According to a recent Resume Now survey, 58% of U.S. workers admit they do this regularly, and another 34% say they do it sometimes. Fifteen percent have faked a call for a supervisor, 12% have scheduled phantom meetings, and 22% say they’ve used their keyboards like pianos to simulate activity.

Why bother? Ninety-two percent of those surveyed confessed they’re job hunting on company time. Career expert Keith Spencer defines ghostworking as “actively projecting an appearance of busyness without actually engaging in meaningful work.” It’s different from quiet quitting, which is simply doing the bare minimum.

Drivers include return-to-office pressure, layoffs, AI uncertainty, and unclear expectations—only 46% of employees today know exactly what’s expected of them. And research shows that surveillance tools often backfire, increasing performative behavior instead of real productivity.

The cure? Spencer says it best: “When managers offer more trust, flexibility, and space to do meaningful work—instead of focusing on constant visibility—teams are more likely to stay engaged and actually deliver.” Thanks for listening to One Minute WorkLife.
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