HR trends and what they mean: Quiet Vacationing

Is quiet vacationing still a thing in 2025? The short answer is a resounding yes. The practice, where employees secretly go on vacation while pretending to work, hasn't just persisted; it's becoming more widespread.

According to recent data from Resume Builder, 41% of full-time workers admit to having taken a quiet vacation in 2025, with Gen Z leading the trend at a striking 66% participation rate.

Why are employees risking potential consequences to vacation in secret? The motivations are telling: 58% want to save their limited PTO days, 52% fear missing important work developments, and 45% worry that time off could hurt their careers. 

"This isn't just people being sneaky," says Marais Bester, senior consultant at SHL, in Forbes. "It’s a sign that many don’t feel safe or supported enough to take a proper break. Instead, they find workarounds, jiggling their mouse to stay ‘active,’ turning video off on calls, answering just enough emails to look busy.” 

According to Bester, the trend reveals a fundamental workplace culture issue: "When nearly half of a generation feels the need to fake being online while actually on holiday, we are not talking about laziness. We are talking about fear." The solution seems straightforward: "If we want people to show up fully engaged, creative and resilient, we need to stop rewarding burnout and start valuing recovery."

The persistence of quiet vacationing reveals that many organisations still haven't addressed the underlying cultural issues driving this behaviour. To tackle this ongoing challenge, HR teams may want to consider the following:

• Recognise the warning signs: Quiet vacationing isn't about employees gaming the system, it's a symptom of a culture that doesn't truly support disconnecting from work. Use it as a diagnostic tool to evaluate your time-off culture.

• Lead by example: Ensure leadership is visibly taking time off and genuinely disconnecting when they do. When executives demonstrate healthy boundaries, it creates permission throughout the organisation for others to do the same.

• Create true disconnection norms: Implement company-wide practices that prevent vacation interruptions, such as clear delegation protocols and temporary reassignment of responsibilities during team members' absences.

• How location tracking affects workplace trust and privacy

• Why quiet quitting and quiet vacationing stem from the same root causes 

• The hidden costs of "always-on" culture in modern organizations

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