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You walk across the office, grab your laptop and head to the beginning of many meetings lined up for the day. Back at my desk, I was loaded with printouts, company pens, empty Huel bottles, leaning over the screen, keyboards littered. Scowl sighs loudly.
Such behavior may be similar to that of a junior analyst who is forced to meet deadlines. However, according to social media, these are also characteristic of Gen Z’s latest coping mechanisms. Task masking, or act like they’re working hard, but barely working.
As employers from BlackRock to the Trump administration step up their demands for office work, Tiktok and Instagram influencers have shown their followers how to trick their bosses into thinking they’re busy.
The advice ranges from classic tips such as always carrying something around, to the latest techniques for quickly switching between chrome tabs, once a battered binder and now a battered laptop. Some recommend George Constanza of the artistic hierarchy of Sainfeld, who seems permanently annoyed, or the ambiguous challenge rather than bending his back into a shrimp-like c-shaped one.
The concept is not new. He visits water coolers five times a day and returns to the digital age.
But the motivation has changed. Task masking does not represent the poor work ethic of Gen Z. On the contrary, even if the façade workers present it, it is a desperate attempt to maintain employment.
Task masking is not a lazy new way of doing things, but a fear-based response to modern workplace pressure, according to Amanda Edelman, chief operating officer of communications firm Edelman’s Gen Z Lab. “Gen Zers talks about how they are A and how to ensure they are as productive as possible.
Edelman’s Gen Z Lab research found that business leaders trying to grasp people between the ages of 13 and 28 are more afraid of losing their jobs than other generations. About 60% are not sure they’ll find a good job this year.
“It’s a trivial thing to say that young people are lazy,” says David Ward, partner at Mercer Consulting Group. “We need to think about the extent to which the contracts between today’s youth and work promises were broken down.”
This sentiment is reflected by Judge Gabriel, 28. The judge for Gabriel said that “anti-labor” social media content boasts over 500,000 followers across Instagram and Tiktok. “The baby boomer generation has won the most of the American companies. It was meritocracy,” she says. “We weren’t raised with the same optimism. Our parents, Gen X, were demolished by things. They had the 9/11, 2008 financial crisis.
So, can senior management improve the fast-growing disconnection with the youngest workers and prevent them from relying on task masking?
One way is to ensure that physically relying on the office is not considered useless. Task masking is, in a sense, a retaliation against presentism, challenging the idea that existence equals productivity.
It is also helpful for executives to consider trends in a more traditional, looser context as an issue of employee engagement.
“Establishing practical norms requires continuous conversations between management, leadership and employees,” says Cait Linduffy of the Gartner Research Group. It includes difficult discussions about performance. But it also means setting clear expectations and goals and helping colleagues meet with them and seeking new responsibilities. “One of the things managers can do is to be more intentional about the contributions and capabilities of their employees, especially those looking for this productivity.”
Perhaps the next time you realize your young colleague has been swept away by a gust of typing, you can just ask how they manage the set tasks, or reassure them that their contributions will be appreciated.
