Forget quiet quitting—4 in 10 millennials are taking ‘quiet vacations’ and checking out of work (and the country) on company dime instead

Nearly 4 in 10 millennials secretly take time off work and go on vacation behind their bosses back. They’re taking their work phone to the beach, and checking in on their emails every so often to not get caught. Here’s how to tell if your worker is one of them this summer. It feels like just yesterday that “quiet quitting” was plaguing workplaces. But with summer firmly here, it’s “quiet holidays” or “quiet vacationing” that bosses need to be on the lookout for. Like quiet quitting—where employees mentally check out of their jobs, instead of taking the financial risk that comes with actually quitting—those who are “quiet vacationing” are similarly tricking bosses into thinking they’re working. But instead of wiggling their mouse every now and then so that they appear to be active while secretly binge watching TV, these workers are taking the trend one step further: They’re going on vacation without formally taking leave, and pretending to still be online. Essentially, some workers could be scanning through Slack or responding to the odd email from a beach in an entirely different country, right under your nose this summer. And it’s your millennial workers you should keep the closest eye on. Millennials are quiet vacationing out of fear of seeming lazy According to a 2024 report on out-of-office culture by Harris Poll, 28% of workers are guilty of taking time off work without communicating it to their employer. Despite all the flak they get about being lazy or unprofessional, less than one-quarter of Gen Zers have done this—the same as Gen Xers and baby boomers. However, nearly 4 in 10 millennial workers have gone on vacation behind their bosses back. They’re also the most likely to have moved their laptop cursor to appear online, or scheduled a late message to look like they’re working overtime. But all of this comes from a fear of looking like they’re slacking off, the researchers noted. A significant chunk of “quiet vacationers” are likely not using up more leave