Hybrid Creep, Where the Office Wins
Remember the pandemic?
I certainly do. I moved countries (yes, end of March 2020). I didn’t have a job. I couldn’t access my money. I had to shift from one Air B’n B to another to keep a roof over my head. At the same time my mother told me it was “terrible for people who couldn’t pay their mortgages” who actually had somewhere permanent to stay.
Yet I suppose my saviour is that I knew I needed to setting somewhere commutable distance from a work centre. Because I know plenty of people who have moved to rural locations thinking they’d be able to work from their kitchen table forever.
Because a new term has just been invented, hybrid creep and it means many 2-day hybrid schedules have morphed into “you’re in the office every damn day except maybe Friday if you’re lucky”.
I’m a Creep, I’m a Weirdo
Hybrid Creep is the latest tactic companies are using to get their employees back into the office, and this way they avoid saying the quiet part out loud.
You know the type of instruction. This isn’t a direct order, we’re not making you come back into the office. It’s a slow-burn manipulation leveraging HR’s culture-building and collaboration target buzzwords.
It’s a team anchor day. Then two. You soon find yourself spending more and more time booking meeting rooms (that are always booked out). The best projects start to go to in-office regulars, shoutouts go to those in the office and promotions are something that only happen to those in the office for five days a week.
This isn’t about productivity. It’s about presence. That free lunch wasn’t free at all, it seems.
We’ve gone from “work wherever you’re most productive” to “work wherever your boss feels insecure if they don’t see you.”
New employee behavior
We’ve been given new opportunities in these exciting days of 2026. Not promotions of course, but new types of behavior that enable employees to quietly strike back.
The coffee badger
Typically a product manager who only swipes in for a cappuccino, and then vanishes like an apparition. They get their in-office days in, signal the work they need to get done and then disappear off to work on their roof garden (seems like I’m thinking of a particular person, doesn’t it?).
The hybrid creeper
Subtle, strategic, and highly allergic to policy documents, this one survives by preying on ambiguity and HR memos. They push the rules, they read things literally and they always (but always) get away with it.
The hushed hybrid
You know the one. With the doctor’s appointments and issues that need remote days, which they get and then keep secret. It’s just like they’re storing gold under their desk that they want to hide from you.
The job hugger
Clinging to whatever flexibility remains, terrified to leave because they know the market out there is about as welcoming as a blank Jira board at 4:55pm.
The Quiet Return
Badge swipe data doesn’t lie. Kastle Systems reports over 50% average attendance in early 2026, the highest since the before-times. But people aren’t returning because they miss the vibe of awkward elevator silences. They’re coming back because the system is shouting that you need to be seen or be sidelined.
While managers will tell you it’s all optional, eventually you’ll be uninvited to that “quick sync” that would have given you the information you need to truly survive. From there, it’s quickly all over.
Tips
Here’s a fun tip from career coaches, document your results. Because if you’re not in the room, you better have receipts. Push managers to define expectations. “How many days?” “Which ones?” “What does this have to do with my performance review?”
Vagueness is the creeper’s habitat. Kill it with clarity.
Because this isn’t just a management style, it’s a trust issue. Hybrid creep pretends to be about collaboration, but it’s really about control. Managers who don’t know how to lead remote teams now have a new workaround. Passive-aggressively guilt you into showing up.
It works. Because even if the official line is “do what works for you”, we all know that missing the Thursday team lunch with free donuts means missing a chance to be noticed.
So while some of us moved jobs for remote flexibility. Others stayed because of it. Hybrid creep is rewriting the rules without ever putting them in writing.
Conclusion
Don’t worry. As long as your badge swipes and Slack status align with “engaged team player,” you might just survive the next round of performance calibration.
If you don’t there is a fully in-office position at Amazon just waiting for you.
About The Author
Professional Software Developer “The Secret Developer” can be found on Twitter @TheSDeveloper.
The Secret Developer has noticed their work environment is considerably better than the one in the office. Better monitors, better chair, and nobody chatting about “strategic direction” while you’re trying to focus.