Do Most People Skive At Work?

[Parkerbosily]

Just a very friendly and fun debate going on at work today when someone tried to tell on someone else for being on TikTok in the toilet and obviously skiving rather than working which the manager said he's not bothered about, so long as we get our work done he doesn't care. But it sparked a bit of a conversation where people were basically all admitting to skiving from work whenever they could with a few exceptions saying they didn't.

I definitely take 5 minutes at least once or twice a day just hiding and playing on my phone. I wondered if many others felt the same? (I'm good friends with my manager who has also admitted to doing this which I find pretty amusing considering he's usually the highest rank in the building)

No. I would probably have 10 mins on my phone at 3:30 after lessons finish, before getting on with work until 4:45 when I leave, but a) that's not skiving because it's not directed time and b) my phone has no bloody signal at school!

Some do, some don’t. ‘Twas ever thus. 🤷‍♀️

I do absolutely nothing between 3& 4 on a Friday.
i make sure everything I need to have done is done and then chill for an hour before I go home

Nope. I’m a teacher with extra responsibilities on top of teaching.

I’m at my desk before 7.30am, teaching all day and then in rehearsals or meetings until 4.30pm. No lunch break, either on duty or grabbing max 10 mins to reply to email backlog.

I work a couple hours in the evening, too.

Phew getting that off my chest felt good teaching is a drain

Oh yeah, and I filled out an ADHD questionnaire I was asked to do for a pupil at 4am last week, because I was wide awake. Ironically.

Id love the luxury of being able to skive! Unfortunately the work won't do itself so I have to do it.

I do wfh on a Friday and try to get out for a nice extended lunch break when I can.

But no one sits at a computer 9-5. There's actually a law that says you are entitled to a break. Skiving is when taking other unofficial " breaks

I don't do it as literally only paid when physically working

I get all my work done by required deadlines and work extra hours if needed.
If I'm ahead of the game I have no qualms about scrolling on my phone or doing personal admin( if WFH). I'm done with working myself to death and take time out wherever I can.

Depends on the job, I imagine. I'm a teacher, so it's a no

I wouldn't say that I skive, but I have adhd and I work in quite a fluid way. So I might do personal stuff in work hours quite often, but I also do a lot of work stuff in the evenings or at weekends. I work in the way that suits me, when it suits me.

As a manager, I don't really care, as long as people get the job done. If they have loads of extra capacity that they're not using for the job, that's on me, really - it's a sign that I should be managing things more effectively.

In the winter I used to know it was time to draw the blinds when I could see the reflection in the window of my line manager playing solitaire....

Unapologetic skiver here

I worked hard when I was in the office Wed/Thu then basically spent Friday cooking, shopping and relaxing

This! Taking breaks isn’t skiving. You’re not expected to be hard at it every second of the day I don’t think - because you’re human not a robot.

Does thinking time count as skiving?

I’m a dental nurse and we’re booked solid every day so no chance of a skive. I’m responsible for a lot more admin than I should be and usually have to start early to get it all done.

I think work (office work) has become much more intense than it was decades ago. I can remember sharing computers and not getting replies from emails for a day. Now everything is instant.
One of the senior managers used to write letters by hand and send them to the typing pool to get typed up. I can remember writing letters and having to wait for a reply by post. The general pace of work was so much slower. I think sometimes the expectation of how much work you get through now has become a bit ridiculous in some industries. Breaks were much more common and acceptable.

Kind of but it’s essentially with permission as management know about it, there’s often a lot of waiting for stuff where you can’t do much so as long as you can be messaged on your phone so people go walk their dogs, do the washing, I’m not home productive though so I binge watch tv shows 🤣

I don't skive - honestly wouldn't even have the chance to!
I'm a teacher so obviously can't skive during lessons and then I am usually on duty/in meetings/doing planning/marking/data analysis/ supporting my team with something (I'm a HoD)/lesson visits in my department/contacting parents etc.

We have a 15 minute morning break and 30 minute lunch but even if I'm not on duty, I am setting lessons up etc. We do line ups so I collect my classes from the yard after break/lunch.

Some days, I barely have time to nip to the toilet!

Some days I can take it more easy than others. Home or in the office. As long as deadlines are met etc no one is breathing down my neck. I will take 5 minutes to browse MN if I want, I don’t go out for multiple cigarette breaks during the day and I don’t see either of those things as skiving tbh. I work hard and accurately, people know I’m reliable.
some days I don’t have time to browse on MN!