Office Peacocking: This Latest Trend Might Attract Employees Back To Work

The Work-from-home practice has been ongoing for four years now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and many employees still seem reluctant to return to the workplace.

Owl Labs CEO Frank Weishaupt said "We just passed the fourth anniversary of the pandemic and many employers still haven't yet given up on trying to return to pre-pandemic policies," as reported by Forbes.

It is the reluctance of employees to return to the workspace that has led to the emergence of a trend known as 'office peacocking'. Let's take a closer look at what this office term means and why it's trending on social media.

What is office peacocking?

Office peacocking involves jazzing up the workplace with stylish decor, trendy furniture, well-stocked pantries, and various amenities to make employees, who are accustomed to working in comfortable settings, feel at ease working from their traditional workplaces, as reported by First Post.

While this trend can be costly, it transforms a typical corporate cubicle setting into a lively lounge-style setting by creating recreational rooms, implementing a relaxed dress code, and even adding napping rooms.

"We found that it might be a good time to kill the dress code, as one in four employees (24 per cent) said they would be enticed to go to the office if they were able to wear whatever they wanted," highlighted Weishaupt referring to Owl Labs' 2023 State of Hybrid Work report.

What are the demands of returning employees?

While an attractive workplace is a tempting offer for many recent graduates, Weishaupt noted that the report highlights issues such as commute and personal space that matter most to employees when it comes to returning to the office.

"Companies paying for commuting costs (38 per cent) is at the top of the list, followed by greater privacy at the office (dedicated offices, more phone booths) (34 per cent), and having a way to know when people they want to see will be there (33 per cent)" stated the Owl Labs CEO, as reported by First Post.

While some employees have embraced the return-to-office policy, there is a growing group of workers willing to make sacrifices for a more hybrid and flexible work culture in the long run. The data gathered by Owl suggests that at least 62 per cent of employees are willing to take a 10 per cent pay cut to remain remote, while four per cent are willing to leave the company to avoid the hassle of working from the office.

Weishaupt also pointed out that "one in three workers (31 per cent) said they would start to look for a new job if their employer mandated them to return to the office". While some have the option to quit, other employees who do not are joining the office and are actively seeking ways to escape from the artificial trappings of office peacocking, as per media reports.

What are some other workplace trends?

Another workplace trend called 'coffee badging' gained popularity last year, in which employees resistant to returning to work visit the office briefly to grab a cup of coffee and make their presence felt before leaving, giving the impression that they are working on-site.

Weishaupt noted that some employees are even adopting a concept called "polyworking", where employees have two or more jobs as a "side hustle". It was found that almost half of employees have at least one additional job outside of their main full-time job, and 68 per cent of them are full-time in-office workers, according to First Post report.

These trends underscore that return-to-office mandates "clearly don't work" and are not the way to get people back to the office, according to Weishaupt.