Gen Z is ‘task masking’ in the workplace. How harmful is it?

Task masking or fauxductivity has existed long before gen-Z discussed it on TikTok.(Pexels/Product School)

People of all ages are adopting a new TikTok trend called “task masking,” something that appears to have existed long before TikTok even existed, or when generation Z was born.

Task masking, or “fauxductivity” as some call it, refers to when office employees find ways to make it look like they’re extremely busy working on something.

Examples of task masking include typing furiously and loudly on the computer, walking fast with your laptop in tow around the workplace, wearing headphones all day or staring intensely at the screen for hours while dissociating.

Many think it was gen-Z, the generation born between the late ‘90s and early 2010s, who conceived it. But Gervase Bushe, a professor at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business, says it’s been around for more than 40 years.

In an interview with CTVNews.ca on Tuesday, Bushe points out that factors like slimming of the workforce, which leads to less managers and supervision, and the covert entry of technology in all job markets, has led to this phenomenon.

“I think where you see task masking going on, what you see is a workforce that’s disengaged, or maybe negatively engaged,” Bushe said. “It’s like they don’t care, and whatever that organization is doing to create employees who don’t care, they’re reaping the rewards of it.”

Bushe adds that corporate culture is such that the employees don’t really care about the success of the organization.

“They feel no connection to it,” he said. “They figured that it’s just not worth putting the time and energy into trying to create a culture where people care.”

How common is task masking?

According to a Global Human Workplace Index survey by Workhuman, 48 per cent of managers said that faking activity is a common issue.

When they took a deeper look, they found that many leaders themselves are driving this phenomenon, with 38 per cent of high-ranking executives and 37 per cent of all managers admitting to engaging in fauxductivity.

Comparatively, only 32 per cent of non-managers admitted to faking productivity.

“Fauxductivity might be a symptom of poor culture, creating a toxic cycle of performative productivity and productivity anxiety,” the survey report reads.

The survey report says the top two reasons employees reportedly felt the need to fake activity was due to the work-life balance and feelings of burn-out.

However, 48 per cent of the survey’s participants said they are above-average workers, and 69 per cent said it hasn’t affected their work.

Is task masking concerning?

Bushe believes the financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted worker attitudes, leading to a sense of malaise.

“Young people are looking at the cost of living and how they can barely make their rent, let alone save to buy a house,” he said. “The whole idea that I could work really hard, and it just isn’t going to make a difference, has an impact.”

The survey noted that when employees feel the need to constantly engage and perform, it can turn into a vicious cycle, especially when they feel the need to account for every second in the form of time tracking.

“When time tracking isn’t required, online workers are more likely to say they have not ‘faked’ productivity,” the survey report said.

What leads to fauxductivity?

Bushe contends that a large majority of blame falls on the lack of human connection, due to concepts like remote working.

“Human connection has been a hugely powerful thing,” he said. “You have to wonder, to what extent people have not gone through what used to be a normal socialization process of becoming a part of something, and feeling like they belong to something when you’re not actually interacting face to face with other people.”

According to the survey, 54 per cent of respondents said their coping strategy is to do the bare minimum to get through the day when they are not engaged.

It also said that a culture of psychological safety, which allows employees to admit when they need a break was the key to fostering authentic engagement and productivity, instead of skating by with task masking or fauxductivity.