Are you a “coffee badge”? You know the type, co-workers who show up in the office long enough to see their badges, say hello to colleagues, have coffee…and then sneak away at some point to keep working remotely, the way for millions of years.
This new buzzword has caused anxiety on the board as the “coffee badge” shows that the cheeky work empowered after the return has begun, which has become a major challenge for companies struggling with changing rules for workplace engagement.
The scope of the problem
Recent surveys have shown that coffee badges are not fringe behaviors: now, a surprising part of the workforce has practiced it. According to data from multiple sources, 44% of hybrid workers in the United States admit to coffee badges, and in a survey of 2,000 American workers, more than 58% of respondents admitted to doing it at least once. However, this problem is not limited to a small number of multinational corporations or tech workers. In fact, three out of every four companies (75%) report struggling with employee coffee badges, which gives it a widespread focus between industry and company size.
Business Insider recently offered a spoon, the coffee badge became so bad at Samsung’s U.S. semiconductor division that it explicitly scolded workers and introduced an RTO (Back to the Office) surveillance tool. In celebrating “more smiling faces can be seen in the corridor,” Samsung announced its new “compliance tool for people managers” will “ensure team members meet their expectations for office work that are defined with their business leaders, as well as guarding the situation of lunch/coffee badges.”
Samsung's move is in the Amazon's coffee bad town. Things got so bad there that managers were having one-on-one conversations with employees to see when they literally return to the office. “It’s been over a year now and we’re starting to talk directly to employees who don’t often spend meaningful time in the office to make sure they understand the importance of having a good time with their colleagues,” Amazon previously said in a statement. wealth.
Why are so many companies struggling?
Return tasks should return to normal and improve productivity. Instead, they triggered a silent uprising.
Employees (especially millennials) are using hybrid policies to benefit their exploitation, finding minimal disruptive ways while minimizing commuting and office hours.
One study found that even 47% of managers admitted to admitting themselves to their coffee badges, stressing that this behavior is deeply rooted in the entire hierarchy. This is actually higher than the number of individual contributors to swing Java (34%).
How the company responds
Faced with a wide range of and immeasurable trends, companies are trying everything from stricter tracking to brand new incentives. First, simply track the swipe of the badge: Gartner reports that 60% of companies are tracking employees since 2022, a number that has more than doubled since the pandemic began and has been larger since. Now, others like Amazon now need to work minimal hours in the office, not just badge swipes.
A few moved from hourly assessments to results-based assessments, hoping to promote real office participation. Employees in other courts have improved facilities and greater timeline autonomy, designed to make office time more attractive than mandatory. Still, leaders are concerned that coffee badge signals are deeper disengagement, and that the appropriate RTO strategy is taking a counterattack.
Looking to the future
The coffee badge is not just a worker opening policy; it is a symptom of a deeper disconnect between traditional workplace expectations and the reality of white-collar work in 2025. As long as employees can be productive remotely and see face-to-face time as a performance basket, it requires rethinking the office’s value proposition, not just law enforcement.
As most companies report struggles, nearly half of the mixed workers engage in this practice, the coffee badges didn’t disappear any time soon. Organizations may need to listen to what it reveals about the future of employee motivation, engagement, and work culture itself, rather than fighting stricter rules.
Are you a coffee badge? Do you have them on your team or do you know that others slip in and out after a brief appearance? We would love to hear from you. Get in touch with nick.lichtenberg@consultant.fortune.com.
For this story, wealth Use the generated AI to help with the initial draft. The editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.