Forget 'coffee badging': 'Calendar stalkers' game return to office - USA Today
Hybrid workers are increasingly engaging in 'calendar stalking' to ensure their in-office days align with their managers' schedules. This behavior is a strategic response to strict return-to-office mandates and the desire for career visibility.
Why it matters
It reflects the ongoing tension between corporate mandates for in-person work and the pragmatic, often performative, responses of the modern workforce.
Hear this story As return-to-office mandates tighten, hybrid workers are turning to a new survival tactic: calendar stalking.
Employees are obsessively tracking their bosses' Outlook schedules to maximize face time, coordinating their own office days to match so they can perform strategic walk-bys.
Stanford economist Nick Bloom calls the behavior an outgrowth of "peacocking" – showing up solely to show off. Bloom recalled one national retailer telling him that the carpet beside a key manager’s desk was literally wearing thin from employees constantly strutting past.
“I’m pretty sure the same canny employees that peacock also likely are billboarding – turning up strategically,” Bloom said.
The trend is a direct byproduct of strict attendance policies requiring staff in physical offices three to five days a week.
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