As the world transitions from the pandemic, Corporate America’s changing stance on remote work Sparking an interesting workplace trend: coffee badges.
“Coffee badges are a term coined by Owl Labs in its 2023 State of the Hybrid Work report,” said Frank Weishaupt, CEO of the video conferencing technology maker. “We found that employees weren’t necessarily responding in the traditional 8 to 5 way. Come to the office and work 5 days a week, but some people wear coffee badges just to show up, grab a cup of coffee, and say hi to some of their coworkers, maybe their boss, so they can hook up. Select the checkbox for Company Return to Office tasks.
Some experts believe such workplace trends often reflect the broader job market. When worker demand is high during the pandemic,’Conversation led by “Quiet Exit”. But as the job market tightens, especially for white-collar jobs, coffee badges have become a response to stricter office policies.
“Many of the workplace trends we’re seeing right now are very much a reflection of what’s happening in the overall job market,” said Cory Kantenga, head of economics for the Americas at LinkedIn.
While the U.S. economy remains strong, the job market has cooled. only 227,000 new jobs created According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the monthly average number in 2022 will be approximately 399,000, and the monthly average number in 2023 will be approximately 251,000.
This economic slowdown has encouraged big companies Enforce stricter tenure mandates. For example, Amazon In September, CEO Andy Jassy announced that company employees must Return to the office five days a week Starting January 2025.
“(Amazon) employees have been unhappy with this. They don’t want this. They want to be flexible,” said Hilke Schellmann, a New York University professor and author of “Algorithm.” If other employers Enforce the same as well, which will have a huge knock-on effect.
Despite changes in the power dynamic between employers and employees, many employees still resist full-time in-service provisions. Experts say coffee badges represent a subtle form of protest.
“This is a silent protest that I just want to go home,” said Dan Kaplan, senior client partner at Korn Ferry.
watch video Understanding this trend sheds light on the state of the job market and the future of the workplace.
