--- title: ‘Lazy management’ vs. ‘fake work’ - The Hustle description: Are tech employees fake-working or are managers lazy-managing? image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1322416868-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-woman_sleeping_20230711001539.webp --- # ‘Lazy management’ vs. ‘fake work’ ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: July 12, 2023 Updated: October 11, 2023 I had a surly manager at a diner who used to love to say, “If there’s time to lean, there’s time to clean.” ![woman sleeping](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1322416868-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-woman_sleeping_20230711001539.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1322416868-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-woman_sleeping_20230711001539.webp) Yeah, no one liked him. But the tech industry may be suffering from the opposite problem. Is the real story behind “fake work” — i.e., the output of well-paid tech workers who do nothing all day — actually “lazy management”? #### **Working hard, or hardly working?** *Insider* [spoke to](https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-industry-fake-work-problem-bad-managers-bosses-layoffs-jobs-2023-7) a former Amazon research scientist who earned $300k+/year doing squat. *Vox* [reported](https://www.vox.com/money/23733244/bullshit-jobs-work-employment-lazy-jobless-employed-nothing-to-do) on a man in fintech who spends most of his day on naps, housework, and TV. Both were down to work, but no one gave them anything to do. Why not ask for more? In 2023 alone, [216k+](https://layoffs.fyi/) tech workers have been laid off as the pandemic’s everything-online era has cooled. People aren’t exactly keen to announce there’s not enough work for their position. #### **Why does this happen?** Sometimes, it’s the ebb and flow of projects and seasons. But often, it’s not workers slacking but managers not managing efficiently — and there are a lot of reasons for that. If they’re overworked, maybe they don’t notice. Maybe they dislike confrontation. Maybe they’re promotion-driven, boosting head counts without offering guidance or producing results. In some cases, there may be too few managers; in others, too many, gumming up progress. #### **Why is this a problem?** Getting paid to do nothing sounds great, but it can be harmful: - Sidelined employees struggle to develop their careers, missing promotions, awards, and other milestones. They also face layoffs. - Meanwhile, resentment can build among overworked employees. #### **What can be done?** Experts say restructuring can help, but it’s also about shifting a company’s culture — e.g., aligning incentives with goals, increasing transparency and communication, and properly defining roles. And, ahem, maybe not *always* blaming workers. **Fun fact: **[*The Trainee*](https://pilvitakala.com/the-trainee) is a documentary in which performance artist Pilvi Takala does nothing in Deloitte’s marketing department for a month. Topics: [Workplace Issues](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/workplace-issues) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![Climbing the corporate ladder? More like scaling the noncompete wall](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/939844908-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Noncompete_20230608234933.webp) ### Climbing the corporate ladder? More like scaling the noncompete wall - ![Office workers dread the commute, spending money](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1603667284-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2024202023commmuting.webp) ### Office workers dread the commute, spending money - ![Top bosses want you back in the office — like, right now](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/961948822-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay209202023return_to_office.webp) ### Top bosses want you back in the office — like, right now - ![Hey, CEOs… You good?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/357918615-19-News-Brief_2023-04-24T235457.502Z.webp) ### Hey, CEOs… You good? - ![Millions of Americans retired early. Now they want to work again](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1583684738-News-Brief_2022-03-31T233737.536Z.webp) ### Millions of Americans retired early. Now they want to work again - ![Apparently workers are lying to their bosses about using ChatGPT](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/892524159-19-News-Brief_2023-03-21T004515.517Z.webp) ### Apparently workers are lying to their bosses about using ChatGPT - ![Scammers are coming for laid-off tech workers](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1425929936-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-13T013655.931Z.webp) ### Scammers are coming for laid-off tech workers - ![Your newest corporate nightmare: ‘Bleisure’](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/613368110-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-07T230219.229Z.webp) ### Your newest corporate nightmare: ‘Bleisure’ - ![Why Apple store workers are unionizing](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1809834651-HS-News-Brief_2022-11-16T011948.164Z-scaled.webp) ### Why Apple store workers are unionizing - ![Some workers say their job billed them for… quitting?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/27999002-HS-News-Brief_2022-10-19T003321.028Z.webp) ### Some workers say their job billed them for… quitting? Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "datePublished" : "2023-07-12T00:36:53.000Z", "headline" : "‘Lazy management’ vs. ‘fake work’", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1322416868-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-woman_sleeping_20230711001539.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/lazy-management-vs-fake-work", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T19:17:51+0000", "datePublished" : "2023-07-12T00:36:53+0000", "headline" : "‘Lazy management’ vs. ‘fake work’", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1322416868-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-woman_sleeping_20230711001539.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```