"Productivity theater - the act of demonstrating busyness as a way to look good - has always existed. Yet rolling layoffs, a stubbornly tight job market, and intensifying fears about AI displacing workers are pushing some workers to be more conspicuous in how they go about their 9-to-5."
"In sales teams that adopt task-automation tools, workers can send more emails and conduct faster research on prospective clients. That might mean sending 500 messages to 50,000 people in three minutes. Yet, those auto-generated messages might not actually drive sales."
"Simply going faster or checking more items off a list doesn't necessarily mean sales reps are having substantive conversations with would-be customers. They're just showing that they're going through the motions."
Productivity theater, the practice of demonstrating busyness to impress supervisors, has intensified due to rolling layoffs, tight job markets, and fears about AI replacing workers. Examples include appearing busy through early-morning emails, attending numerous meetings, or sending high volumes of automated messages. However, visible activity often masks lack of substantive work. Sales consultants note that automation tools enable workers to send thousands of messages quickly, creating an illusion of productivity without meaningful customer engagement. The disconnect between appearing busy and actual productivity undermines workplace effectiveness, as workers prioritize looking engaged over delivering genuine results.
#productivity-theater #workplace-culture #ai-and-job-security #employee-performance-metrics #automation-and-work
Read at Business Insider
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