Research of 500 respondents by office rental service Officebroker finds that 39 per cent of workers regularly stayed late or arrived early during the last year, in a bid to seem more dedicated to their job than their colleagues.
More than a quarter (26 per cent) say they consistently work longer days than is actually needed to do their job effectively.
Employees are most likely to stay longer at work when a pay review is imminent, a new boss has been appointed or redundancies have been announced.
Those employees working extended hours commit between an hour and two hours extra a day, adding a minimum of half a day extra to their working week, with time-wasting tasks of choice included browsing the internet, emailing friends and doing menial, non-urgent tasks such as filing emails and organising their calendar.
Chris Meredith, head of UK sales for officebroker.com, says the ‘faking it’ office phenomenon has poor long-term implications for both the employee and their employer.
He adds, ‘The general consensus is that many workers across the country are putting in longer office hours than ever before. What our research has found however is that many are doing it in a bid to improve their office image and win favour, rather than because their workload demands it.
‘People are sitting idle in their office in a bid to stand out from the colleagues and impress their bosses. This means a poorer work-life balance and ultimately no productivity gains for the firm – just increasingly tired workers – which benefits nobody.’
