Roboquitting is the latest workplace trend to emerge in the era of hybrid working

The era of hybrid working has driven many changes in the way people work. And the latest workplace trend to emerge is something called roboquitting. It takes advantage of remote work and AI to allow people to automate parts of their jobs, freeing them for side hustles and more free time. It builds on the trend for quiet quitting over the past four years, which describes how people do the minimum requirements of their job. They put in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary to collect a salary.

Now many people are taking advantage of new technology and the ignorance of bosses about its potential to take that idea even further. A recent report highlighted how little bosses know about what AI is capable of. At the same time people are increasingly confident in their ability to work with the new technology, especially those who are younger digital natives and those who are already using the technology routinely in their lives.

These people are fully aware of the parts of their role that can be carried out by AI and are taking advantage of it. Hybrid working allows them to do this more easily when they are away from the office. And while many firms have already looked to control the use of AI in the workplace, people are simply ignoring them. Chances are that bosses will give up on this behaviour in exactly the same way they did with the use of personal phones in the workplace a few years ago.

Critics of the practice say that it may accelerate the automation of many roles, but its proponents say that there is no harm and so no foul. If firms don’t even notice that certain tasks have been completed by AI, then what  is the problem? For a disengaged hybrid working workforce able to take advantage of AI to generate extra income or have a better work life balance, this is yet another workplace trend that has no apparent downside.