Report: Where Workers Are Naughtiest While on The Clock

From microwaving fish in the breakroom to scrolling through social media in a meeting, Americans all across the country are guilty of slacking off from time to time at work. Staying fully focused 40 hours a week, every week, can be difficult, but in some parts of the country, workers are misbehaving more than others.

We at Solitaire Bliss love playing a game, whether its Classic Solitaire of Spider, but we also know it’s important to leave the fun for your free time, rather than company time. That’s why we set out to learn about Americans’ naughtiest work habits.

To do this, we surveyed residents in 40 major U.S. cities and asked about the ways they slack off, how often they are guilty of these habits, and more. We then awarded points to responses that represented naughty behaviors and calculated a naughty work habit score by city on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most naughty. Read on to learn more about the most common naughty behaviors in the workplace.

Key Takeaways

• Austin, TX, and Charlotte, NC, residents are naughtiest while at work.
• Workers in the finance and insurance industry are most guilty of naughty work habits.
• 84% of Americans have pretended to look busy at work while doing nothing.
• 65% of Americans think they're less naughty than their coworkers; just 9% admit they're worse.
• Nearly 2 in 5 Americans have used AI to sound more competent at work than they actually are.
• Half of Americans have flirted with a coworker, and 1 in 3 has dated or hooked up with one.
• Nearly 1 in 3 Americans have shown up to work hungover, and 11% have shown up drunk.

How Bad Are Your Own Work Habits?

Before we get to the rankings, it helps to know what "naughty" even means at work. When we sorted every habit we asked about, they fell into six flavors of workplace mischief: slacking off, faking productivity, bending the truth, snooping and gossiping, getting romantic, and hiding AI shortcuts. Almost everyone is guilty of at least one, so we built a quick quiz to show you where you land. Check off the ones you've done, watch your score climb, and then read on to see where your city ranks.

Where the Worst Offenders Clock In

After sorting the habits, we wanted to see where the worst offenders actually clock in. To do this, we scored 40 metro areas from 0 to 100 based on how much their workers slack, snoop, and bend the truth, and one city ran away with it.

Austin, TX, took the top spot with a naughty score of 98.99, as nearly 1 in 3 residents admit they’ve been caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing at work. Despite this, Austin residents are the most likely (30%) to say they feel guilty about their workplace habits.

Following closely behind in second place is Charlotte, NC, (95.95) where nearly 1 in 6 workers have received a written warning or formal write-up for misbehaving. Coming in third place is San Diego, CA, with a naughty work habit score of 91.63 out of 100. Texas kept showing up, too, with San Antonio (89.64) and Dallas (87.43) both landing in the top 10.

At the other end, a few cities kept things buttoned up. Baltimore, MD, came out cleanest of all with a score of 62.89 out of 100, with Pittsburgh, PA, (64.09) and Milwaukee, WI, (65.12) close behind.

The Industries Where Mischief Runs Highest

We also wondered whether the job itself makes a difference, so we scored 20 industries the same way. Money, it turns out, makes mischief. Finance and insurance topped the table by a wide margin with a score of 98.84, followed by hospitality and tourism (92.81) and construction (91.46). Government (91.12) jobs landed right where most stereotypes place public sector work, clearing 90 right alongside healthcare (90.50).

The most buttoned-up fields sat well down the list. Shipping and warehousing came in cleanest (70.48), with nonprofit (73.85) and transportation (75.00) rounding out the tame end.

The Most Common Naughty Habits

After ranking the where, we dug into the what. Some habits are basically universal. The most common of all is pretending to look busy while doing nothing, which 84% of Americans admit to. Handling digital errands on the clock (82%) and browsing social media during a meeting (76%) weren't far behind.

We also asked which habits people repeat, not just which they've tried once. The same three led the way: pretending to look busy (34% do it often), digital errands (31%), and social media in meetings (31%). And when it comes to talking behind each other's backs, gossiping about a coworker (69%) edges out badmouthing the boss (65%) by just a hair.

How Americans Fake a Full Day's Work

Since faking productivity turned out to be nearly universal, we wanted to know exactly how people pull it off. Nearly 7 in 10 Americans have faked being productive in at least one way. The go-to move is nudging the mouse or using a jiggler (37%), followed closely by typing or clicking randomly to look busy (35%) and keeping a chat status green (33%).

A newer tool has quietly joined the act. When we asked about AI, 38% said they've used it to write a message that makes them sound more competent, the single most common AI habit at work. Another 26% have faked understanding something with AI's help, and 23% have passed AI-generated work off as their own.

Who's Really Driving the Bad Behavior

After seeing how common these habits are overall, we wanted to know who's really driving the numbers, and the gaps got interesting fast. Men out-confess women on nearly everything. They're more likely to have flirted with a coworker (57% vs 46%), run personal errands on the clock (64% vs 54%), and shown up hungover (39% vs 27%).

Generation matters, too. Gen Z scrolls social media in meetings far more than Boomers (78% vs 60%) and is much likelier to leave a mess for someone else to clean (32% vs 13%), though Boomers own the accidental "reply all" (47% vs 35%). And where you work shapes things as much as who you are: Hybrid employees have turned looking busy into a craft, outpacing fully remote workers on pretending to look busy (87% vs 78%) and using AI to sound smarter (48% vs 31%).

The Admissions We Didn't See Coming

Some answers went further than we expected. Romance is alive at the office, as 51% of Americans have flirted with a coworker, and 1 in 3 has dated or hooked up with one. Nearly a third (32%) have shown up hungover, and 30% have ghosted an employer entirely, quitting with no notice at all, a move led by millennials.

Consequences, though, are rare. Only 28% of Americans have ever been caught doing something they shouldn't, and just 6% have been fired or asked to leave over it. Maybe that's why 48% feel no guilt whatsoever about their habits, with remote workers the most shameless of the bunch at 53%.

Here's the finding that surprised us most. Even after owning up to all of this, almost everyone still thinks they're the good one. Overall, 65% of Americans say they're less naughty than their coworkers, while only 9% will admit they're worse. Women are the most self-assured of all, with 69% claiming they're better behaved compared to 60% of men.

Enjoy a Game After Hours

As this study has shown, the workday is full of tiny escapes, and a lot of them involve a screen. While there’s nothing wrong with a mental breather, it’s important to limit them while on the clock or save the distractions for when you’re off the clock.

So when you finish a busy day at the office, let Solitaire Bliss offer you a peaceful way to unwind. From Spider Solitaire to FreeCell, we offer a variety of free, online games you can play anywhere, any time, helping you relax after clocking out.