Manager reprimands employee for texting at the office instead of looking busy: 'Okay, then give me more stuff to do!'

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Feb 18, 2026 8:00 AM EST

Working in an office where optics matter more than actual productivity and output is, let's face it, a red flag.

Many of us have worked for supervisors who seem to care more about projecting an image of productivity than anything else. This employee, for instance, was so hard-working that he would frequently complete all of his tasks and responsibilities with about 80% of the work day left to go. 

Most managers would applaud this level of efficiency, provided that the quality of the work remains consistent. In fact, the average supervisor would likely assign the employee more work in order to make better use of their time. However, in this workplace, things went down a little differently. 

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  • One day, after once again finishing his work early, the employee took out his phone to catch up on any missed messages he received throughout the day. This coincided, unfortunately, with his manager walking right behind the employee's desk. He immediately took notice of the texting and decided to move ahead and file a complaint against the employee.

    Newsflash, sir. Employees are going to text their loved ones from time to time. As long as they do so without interrupting the workflow in a substantial way, it shouldn't be a problem. But of course, this was the kind of manager who prioritized optics above all else. 

    Now, the employee had enough of this nonsense. He knew that he could probably do a better job of hiding how much free time he had at work, but he decided that he wasn't going to play this game of performative productivity. If his manager wanted him to be working here, then he should give him more responsibility! After all, this was not the first time the author asked for more duties.

    As several members of this online community pointed out, asking for extra work is a dangerous game. However, it sounds like this employee was either ready to take on more projects or walk away entirely. Power to him!

  • An employee texts on his phone while sitting at his desk in the office.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    An employee texts on his phone while sitting at his desk in the office.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Might lose my job because I don't look busy when I'm not

    Right before leaving work, my manager told me he wanted to speak to me for 5 minutes.
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  • We found somewhere to talk in private, and he told me he noticed I was spending a lot of time on my phone.
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  • Which is not a bad observation, I do do that. Then why am I complaining?
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  • Because what he said next was "When you have tasks, you're not on your phone, you're doing them." okay, what's the issue then ?
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  • Well, I arrived here a month ago, and until now, I've had 2hrs of task a day maximum.
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  • So, I said "Okay, then give me more stuff to do?" and his answer was tiptoeing around before saying "Maybe you should keep your phone in your pocket?
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  • It gives us a bad look if you look like you're doing nothing you know..." And like...
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  • If you wanted to hire someone to "look busy", you should have hired a f king actor, not a deployer.
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  • So now, I have a f ng Damocles sword over my head because when I don't have work for 5hrs, I don't just stare really hard at my e mails...
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  • Edit: - For those who tell me to look at reddit, play games, or do anything else just not on my phone, not my computer: this is an open space made in such a way that people can see my screen just by walking by, precisely to avoid that kind of thing.
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  • Also, I'm on company network so they can easily monitor which sites I'm accessing. - For those who say I complain for nothing: the problem is not that I'm at 80% charge and I want 100.
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  • It's that I'm not even at 20%, and the 80% remaining I have literally nothing to do.
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  • "Read an e book", "Read a PDF", "Listen to radio", etc. Well, sure, except for the fact that, again, my PC is visible to everyone, and so they'll still see what I'm reading and still notice I'm not working.
    via Nei-Chan-
  • As for radio, not allowed to have my headset on unless I'm on a call... - For advice like "sweep dust", "walk around with a clipboard", and things like that...
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  • That doesn't exactly fit my job, so it wouldn't work either. Sorry if I sound angry in my edit and such, I don't mean to be, I know you're all well meaning, but I'm just annoyed that my job is on the line because apparently, what I thought was gonna be an interesting job is more about acting than doing the things I'm actually hired for...
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  • Edit 2: Okay, this got a lot more traction than expected, and I definitely wrote this more in the heat of the moment than would be reasonable.
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  • I'm removing notifications, and I'm gonna take a long time to think, because it sounds like maybe a job like this one is just not for me, with everyone talking about how "it's how the game is supposed to be played" and such, I just can't imagine myself in this situation for the rest of my life.
    via Nei-Chan-
  • Still, even to those that were maybe a bit mean in their answers and such, thanks for taking time to at least answer, it will definitely help me with taking decisions for my future to see all the different POVS !
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  • kounterfett Notice you didn't get in trouble for whatever it was you were doing on your phone. Your boss basically told you they don't care what else you're doing as long as your tasks get done and you look busy during the day. If you want to doom scroll reddit just do it on your computer. How hard is that?
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  • An employee sleeps at his desk in the office.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    An employee sleeps at his desk in the office.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Nei-Chan- Original Poster's Reply I added an edit for this, but I guess answering here won't hurt. My activity on my PC is monitored (for security reasons), and I'm in an open space, very close to the central alley, so people would see what's on my screen. So scrolling Reddit on my screen wouldn't change anything.
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  • NatureAware2190 Play your games and doomscroll on your monitor instead
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  • Nei-Chan- Original Poster's Reply I added an edit for this, but I guess answering here won't hurt. My activity on my PC is monitored (for security reasons), and I'm in an open space, very close to the central alley, so people would see what's on my screen. So scrolling Reddit on my screen wouldn't change anything.
    via Nei-Chan-
  • Tarnpanzer If you got nothing to do just do some training regarding your field of work. No one will get mad at you for educating yourself to be better at your job.
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  • Gertrudethecurious Do some on line courses in some things vaguely related to your job. Better if you can get certified. Also ask your supervisor if you can ask to help others in the office.
    via Nei-Chan-
  • Nei-Chan- Original Poster's Reply I'm constantly asking to help others. Because I'll be honest, I don't know how to look busy when I'm not, and I just want to be able to become better at my job so they trust me with harder stuff so I can at least fill my day.
    via Nei-Chan-
  • chaosisapony I felt the same way. I literally started wandering around. Went to other offices, talked to people, went to the bathroom more than I needed to... I couldn't handle just sitting at my desk for most of the day with nothing to do. It's a special kind of torture.
    via Nei-Chan-

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employee fired toxic-workplace manager Office funny work stories
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