According to a new Ghostworking Report from Resume Now, more than half of employees (58%) admit they regularly pretend to be working, while another 34% do it occasionally. From fake meetings to typing nonsense, employees are getting creative to maintain the illusion of productivity. Resume now surveyed 1,127 American workers in February 2025 and recently published the results.
Of course, the OG ghostworker is George Costanza from Seinfeld, who offered a master class in one episode. His rules included “People with documents in their hands look like hardworking employees heading for important meetings. People with nothing in their hands look like they’re heading for the cafeteria.” He was also a proponent of always trying to look impatient and annoyed and sighing loudly and often in public to give your bosses the impression that you are always busy. It also prevents fainthearted coworkers from approaching you with requests and stupid questions.
We all laughed at the time, but it turns out walking around to look busy is still a thing. 23% of employees have walked around the office with a notebook to appear busy, and 22% have typed randomly to seem engaged.
According to the survey, a surprising (to me) 92% of workers have job-searched during work hours. Workers also admitted that they edit their resumes (24%) on the clock and 23% have even applied for jobs using work computers (23%).
Here are some other findings:
- 15% have held a phone to their ear with no real call, while another 15% have kept a spreadsheet open while browsing unrelated content.
- 12% have scheduled fake meetings to avoid real work.
- 12% of respondents said they never fake productivity. (while typing busily in the background.)
Resume Now’s career expert Keith Spencer says ghostworking has become a symptom of a much deeper issue. “Employees aren’t being lazy,” he says, “they’re responding to unclear expectations, a lack of meaningful work, or a culture that values appearances over tangible results. Many professionals feel stretched too thin, burned out, or uncertain about their priorities, all of which naturally erode motivation. Employers can help reduce ghostworking by clarifying goals, improving communication, rewarding measurable outcomes instead of busyness, and ensuring employees understand how their work contributes to the company’s overall success.”
Spencer says in many workplaces, “productivity theater” is alive and well. Whether it’s driven by micromanagement, unclear goals, or workplace culture, employees often feel more pressure to appear busy than to do meaningful work. For employers, understanding these behaviors can reveal where time and trust are being lost—and why creating a results-focused environment that rewards time management skills might be more effective than enforcing performative busyness.
Would Monitoring Improve Productivity? Yes. We all behave better when we think someone’s watching.
Spencer says the idea of monitoring employee activity—especially screen time—remains controversial. But interestingly, most workers believe it might actually help them stay on task. In fact, 69% of employees believe they would be more productive if their employer monitored their screen time.
Ghostworking isn’t a new idea; it’s a time-honored pushback against the idea that looking busy is more important than doing work that matters. If you’re a manager and you suspect you have ghostworkers, think of it as an opportunity to look at what you reward in the workplace and change the behavior you’re incentivizing.
Your Work, Your Way 