According to Inc, a new study from Infosys-owned agency WongDoody reveals American workplaces are experiencing what researchers call “cold work” environments, where trust has completely broken down between employees and managers. The survey of 600 U.S. workers and employers found 87% describe current job tensions as uniquely intense, leading to widespread unhappiness and declining performance. Shockingly, 62% of workers admitted to “hidden behaviors” like job hunting during work hours, while 49% of managers confessed to tracking employees and considering public shaming. Nearly 80% of all respondents said declining trust has calcified engagement, with 60% of employees feeling “invisible, undervalued, and replaceable” despite 96% still wanting recognition from managers.
This feels like a Cold War, but with Zoom
Here’s the thing – we’re not just talking about typical office friction. This is systematic breakdown where both sides are treating each other as quasi-adversaries. Workers are secretly job hunting and side-gigging during work hours, while managers are literally thinking about public shaming. It’s become an arms race of distrust. And the numbers don’t lie – when nearly half of managers admit to considering punitive measures, we’ve moved beyond normal workplace challenges into something much darker.
So what’s causing this deep freeze?
The study points to some obvious culprits: economic instability, AI job threats, political divisions, and good old-fashioned burnout. But I think there’s something deeper happening. We’re in this weird transition period where remote work created new expectations, return-to-office mandates shattered them, and nobody really knows the rules anymore. Managers don’t trust employees because they can’t see them working. Employees don’t trust managers because they feel micromanaged and undervalued. It’s a perfect storm of mutual suspicion.
The hidden behaviors tell the real story
Let’s talk about those “hidden behaviors” for a minute. Workers applying to other jobs on company time? Managers tracking social media and assigning punitive tasks? This isn’t just disengagement – this is active workplace sabotage from both directions. And the really troubling part? These behaviors are becoming normalized. When 62% of workers think it’s okay to secretly job hunt during work hours, and nearly half of managers consider public shaming, we’ve crossed into territory where basic professional respect has evaporated.
Can this actually be fixed?
WongDoody’s Matthew Dietly says leaders need to “name the freeze” and confront it directly. Basically, stop pretending everything’s fine when your workplace has turned into a low-grade conflict zone. The research suggests acknowledging difficult changes, reestablishing clear expectations, and creating better communication channels. But let’s be real – this requires actual leadership, not just another HR initiative. Companies need to rebuild trust from the ground up, and that means both sides need to stop treating each other like the enemy.
The silent crisis in today’s workplaces won’t solve itself. As Dietly puts it, “Cold Work won’t thaw on its own.” We’re at a point where the future of work isn’t about better technology or flexible policies – it’s about rebuilding basic human trust. And honestly, if companies can’t figure that out, no amount of monitoring software or secret job hunting is going to fix what’s fundamentally broken.
