The rise of return-to-office mandates requiring employees to come back in person a certain number of days a week has caused many workers to adjust their commuting behavior. Coffee badging and other workplace trends have created new traffic patterns, commuting schedules, and expectations around office culture.
“Coffee badging” is a hybrid work phenomenon where employees come into the office to show face and get credit for coming in without staying long and then return home to work remotely – maybe just long enough to say hello and grab a coffee, hence the term.
When coffee badging first emerged as a workplace trend in 2023, 58% of employees admitted to the behavior. In the 2024 State of Hybrid Work report, 44% of US employees still admitted they coffee badge. Interestingly, 70% of the employees were caught by their boss, but without much effect: 59% of employers “didn’t mind” when they found out their employees were making a brief stop in the office.
However, not all coffee-badging behavior is created equal, so let’s dive deep to see how frequently it’s practiced and how acceptable it has become across different regions.
UK: Coffee (tea?) badging
Coffee badging is less frequent in the UK, as it was practiced by only 39% of workers this year. That said, of those who have coffee badged, (64%) have been caught by employers. However, unlike the US, coffee badging is on the rise. Up from just 23% of employees in 2023, over one and a half times the number of employees coffee badged in the UK this year.
Why is coffee badging becoming more popular in the UK while it declined across the pond? Over half (51%) of UK employees are hybrid, compared to just 27% of employees surveyed in the US. With employees more accustomed to a flexible format, going into the office to meet RTO mandates might feel like more of a formality than a necessity, and without a norm of other colleagues routinely staying in for the full day, the temptation to briefly show face and then embrace the comfort of WFH is all too real.
Kaffe badging in Germany
Similar stats persist for coffee badging in Germany as in the UK, with 38% of employees admitting to it and about two-thirds, or 65%, admitting they were caught by their bosses. Only 10% of employees surveyed experienced negative consequences from being caught, such as being required to stay the full day.
Nearly two in three (64%) German employees work in a hybrid format, up from 51% last year. It begs the question, if hybrid schedules are so common and most managers don’t mind employees working flexibly, why is “return to office” so buzzy?
More and more employees think that their companies are requiring in-person work now to fill real estate rather than to boost their productivity.
In Germany, our State of Hybrid Work Report found that 31% of employees feel this way– but in the US, 50% of employees feel like they’re coming in to fill space. While hybrid work has become a norm globally, work culture and expectations vary in different countries, and employees are adapting differently.
Where coffee badging is the least prevalent
Of the countries we surveyed for our 2024 State of Hybrid Work Reports, France has the lowest self-reported levels of coffee badging, at just 22% of employees, despite 49% of workers still working in a hybrid format. About half of coffee badgers have been caught by their employers.
69% of French workers prefer to stay in the office for the full day rather than coffee badge, but 67% believe they only go into the office due to traditional work expectations.
Interestingly, French managers coffee badge at nearly three times the rate of individual contributors, with 32% of managers admitting to the habit compared to 11% of those in individual contributor roles. That compares to nearly half (47%) of managers in the US and 34% of individual contributors.
While coffee badging happens at different rates among different demographics around the world, it’s clear that a fairly significant cohort of employees are continuing to coffee badge at the office, and there often aren’t significant consequences from their managers from doing so, especially when in some workplaces, managers are doing it more frequently than the team members they’re leading.
The final verdict?
Wherever coffee badging fits into the existing work culture of any country, it’s been on the rise in the past few years, coinciding with hybrid work. The verdict is still out on whether coffee badging impacts the quality of work or employee productivity. Most of the time, the behavior does not carry harsh consequences, and coffee badging, in some cases, is a symptom of frustration with a long commute for days in the office.
The positives of coffee badging for employees include avoiding some traffic on the road by returning at off-peak hours and getting more time working remotely if that’s their preference. However, not being as present in the office can minimize opportunities for in-person collaboration on a hybrid schedule. Only time will tell the long-term impact coffee badging has on employees as it impacts productivity, work-life balance, and career advancement.
