Many employers would prefer employees to return to the office as often as possible. Some employees find ways to circumvent this requirement by showing up at their workplace just to attend team meetings. These quick, stealthy round trips have a name: “coffee badging”. Explanations.
The firm Owl Labs introduced the term “coffee badging” in its annual HR trends report in 2023. Already at that time, it estimated that 58% of American hybrid workers admitted to going to the office for a few hours – to collect a presence “badge” – and then returning home.
“Coffee badging is a phenomenon related to hybrid work, where employees come to work to make an appearance and get credit for coming to the office briefly before returning to remote work. They stay just long enough to have a coffee and say hello,” explains the company’s website.
In 2025, the trend had declined to 44%. However, the survey does not say whether the practice is occasional or systematic.
Last summer, Amazon raised its voice towards its employees to force them to honor their three full days of office presence per week. In this regard, we must recognize that the phenomenon truly exists. In Quebec, the latest survey by the Order of CRHA, in 2023, showed that 21% of workers continue to want full-time remote work and 22% would like to have hybrid work with “full flexibility”.
In a small LinkedIn survey, we discovered that the vast majority of hybrid workers prefer to spend the full day at the office, as long as they have to travel.
The 20% who admit to leaving as early as possible cannot be ignored either. Among the respondents, Annick (fictitious name) holds an administrative job in a construction company. In theory, she has the right to two days of remote work per week. But, in reality, she rarely shows up more than once at the office and leaves as soon as her meetings end.
“In my workplace, it’s a little war that people wage,” she recounts. “Those who have to come to the office full-time (for example, payroll or accounting people) watch who has the right to hybrid work. So, to avoid attracting jealousy and complaints from those forced to stay, we attend meetings and leave discreetly,” she admits.
Annick has several reasons for preferring work from home:
“I save extraordinary time by avoiding commutes. Then, in an open space office, you hear everything that’s said. So, it’s hard to concentrate. And you’re often disturbed by colleagues who come ‘just’ to say hello. At home, it’s so much calmer, with my well-arranged workspace. I can concentrate fully.”
Employers must therefore ask themselves the question: do they want employees who make an appearance at the office – all day – or workers who take their job seriously by giving themselves the means to be productive, at the office and at home?
