Quiet vacationing

Etymology

Popularized in 2024 by a Harris Poll report on workers who take time off without telling their managers. It was coined on the model of "quiet quitting," extending the "quiet ___" frame to describe another covert workplace behavior.

noun · /KWY-uht vay-KAY-shun-ing/
Taking time off covertly — traveling or resting while keeping up the appearance of working.
What it names
It names a hidden form of leave: nudging the mouse, sending a scheduled off-hours email, or logging in from the beach to seem present while actually unplugged. It exposes a trust gap in remote work, where employees feel they must fake availability rather than simply take the vacation they’re owed.
Example
She was technically online all week, but the tan gave away that she’d been quiet vacationing in Portugal.
Related idea
A relative of quiet quitting, but the two differ: quiet quitting is doing only your job’s bare minimum, while quiet vacationing is concealing that you’re off entirely.