In workplaces already struggling with productivity, an emerging phenomenon described as “ghostworking” is likely to generate some fear among managers, leaders and HR—especially because of how common it appears to be.
According to a new report from Resume Now, more than 58% of employees admit to pretending to be working, or ghostworking, regularly, while another 34% do it occasionally. What’s driving the trend? Hannah Yardley, chief people and culture officer at Achievers, points to an ongoing downturn in employee recognition.
“Ghostworking happens in many cases when employees stop seeing the point of their work,” Yardley says.
While concepts such as presenteeism and quiet quitting—both productivity reducers for a variety of reasons—are not new, some ways in which employees today are faking it apparently are, and can be very creative.
For example, the Resume Now report found:
- 23% of employees admitted to walking around the office with a notebook to look busy;
- 22% have typed randomly to appear engaged;
- 15% have held a phone to their ear with no real caller on the other end;
- 15% have kept a spreadsheet open while browsing unrelated content; and
- 12% have scheduled fake meetings to avoid real work.
Just 12% of respondents said they never fake productivity.
Dovetailing with the ghostworking trend is the fact that employee recognition is in sharp decline compared to last year—and it’s hurting employee performance. That’s according to the 2025 State of Recognition report from the Achievers Workforce Institute (AWI), the research and insights arm of Achievers, which offers recognition and reward software.
According to the report, just 23% of employees feel meaningfully recognized at work. About half of the employees surveyed said they’re recognized just a few times a year—or less.
Yardley says that can initiate a ripple effect across key workplace metrics, including employee engagement, trust and productivity.
“It’s simple: When someone feels like no one is noticing their effort, for instance, they stop giving it,” Yardley says. “We found that recognition fuels engagement when it’s running low.”
Connecting effort and impact
Yardley explains that reducing the risk of ghostworking is not theoretical; it’s doable and based on data. In Achievers’ latest research, for example, employees recognized weekly are 2.6 times more likely to be productive and six times more likely to see a long-term future with their company.
However, HR efforts to combat ghostworking are only possible with manager buy-in.
“We like to say peer recognition drives culture, and manager recognition drives performance,” she says. According to the AWI research, employees who are regularly recognized by their manager are 3.2 times more likely to feel engaged, 2.4 times more likely to build relationships and work toward shared goals, and nine times more likely to see a long-term future with their company.
See also: Rewriting the book on recognition: It’s time to stop checking a box
“When managers give consistent, meaningful recognition, trust, productivity, collaboration and belonging will rise,” she says.
Yardley notes that recognition “connects the dots” between effort and impact, adding that it says to employees: “What you just did matters, and here’s why.
“That specificity builds purpose, belonging and energy. Without it, people start to drift. With it, they will show up fully,” she says.
Recognition: a cure for modern distractions
According to Yardley, fostering a recognition-rich culture is a strategic tool for clarity.
“Right now, there are a ton of distractions for people to worry about outside the workplace,” she says, noting that many employees are concerned about the future of their roles, the economy and the state of the world.
“All these factors are no doubt contributing to the crisis of employee engagement that the workplace is experiencing right now, including ghostworking,” she says.
In today’s workplaces, where ambiguity is running high, she adds, an ongoing expectation of recognition can be valuable. AWI, for instance, found that employees who receive weekly recognition are 11 times more likely to feel informed during times of change.
“Recognition isn’t just a ‘make people feel good’ remedy; it’s a ‘help people see business impact’ remedy,” Yardley concludes. “It helps focus people on the behaviors that are important to the business and get a clear understanding of where they stand and if they’re doing the right things.”
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