Vibe Voting: 5 Ways Workers Show Up (Or Don't)

5 Ways Workers Vote With Presence

In today's workplace, voting with presence takes multiple forms. I've been tracking these patterns through my consulting work and conference conversations. Here are five ways employees demonstrate their preferences through movement...or by staying put.

1. Vote To Give Two Days, Not Three

According to ​FlexIndex​, roughly one-third of companies operate in a hybrid model with minimum office day requirements. Many execs still want three days of presence per week. Most workers will only give two.

This gap tells us something critical: office culture may not be attractive enough to secure three-day attendance.

I explored this dynamic in my article about ​business rhythms​ creating order in hybrid chaos​. When companies mandate days without clarifying why those days matter, employees vote with their calendars.

There's been little fear of this autonomy because only a few companies seeking full-time office presence have threatened termination for non-compliance. Which brings us to the second category.

2. Vote To Quit For More Flexibility

Amazon is still an extreme example of a full-time office mandate, complete with termination threats for failure to comply. CEO Andy Jassy listed several reasons for the sudden policy change, but it appears to have negatively impacted morale and retention intent.

Anonymous employee platform Blind ​reported​ that 91% of Amazon professionals surveyed were dissatisfied with the decision, and 73% were considering leaving.

This extension of The Great Resignation sent a message across industries about sensitivity to flexibility changes. The cultural disconnect between executives and employees will take years to repair. As I wrote about in my ​Forces Diagram framework​, resistance and momentum are equally powerful forces...and Amazon tilted heavily toward resistance.

3. Vote To Find A Better Seat In The Office

For workers who like their roles and commute periodically, the next voting category transforms office design.

Workers move into different functional zones to feel more productive: quiet areas for focused work, high-tech meeting rooms for collaboration, community spaces for connection. Activity-based configurations facilitate this flexibility, though companies without modern designs find employees improvising by rearranging furniture.

I witnessed this evolution at WeWork HQ, where ​extreme multi-purposing​  maximized vibe and social connectivity​. The space had virtually no bolted-down furniture. Real buzz requires operational commitment.

4. Vote To Seek Out A Third Place

Workers who find home or office unsuitable for their tasks seek "third place" options like coworking spaces or local cafés. Availability of these locations has surged since the pandemic, with more companies offering benefits or reimbursements.

By embracing a network of local workspaces, companies can enhance engagement through choice and autonomy while reducing real estate expenses. I explored how coworking was never really ​about the space​ itself​—it was about access to collisions that wouldn't happen otherwise.

Allowing your workforce to leverage third places is like promoting something more inclusive than a two-party system.

5. Vote To Lead By Example And Be The Amenity

The final example is for leaders and managers, whose footsteps land with outsized cultural impact.

Most companies emphasize that employees need to be together for things harder to achieve remotely: learning, socializing, feeling connected to vision and mission. Accomplishing these goals requires organizational leaders to visibly work alongside their teams.

Leaders are still the best amenity in the office. Their presence inspires others to make the commute.

Former Forbes senior editor Jena McGregor ​wrote​:

One common complaint about hybrid work policies, generally, is that young workers go to the office but find managers don't attend, meaning they miss out on in-person mentorship, training or development

Organizations wanting employees to vote "yes" to the office more often should focus efforts on the corporate senators. ​Proximity matters​ for building the connection executives claim to want.

Vote For A Vision Beyond Hybrid

Flexible furniture systems, immersive technologies, and AI-powered workforces are accelerating workplace change. The number of "elections" we make about day-to-day work environments will increase exponentially.

Just as NYC voters showed up in record numbers when they believed their choice mattered, employees engage more fully when given genuine agency over their work experience.

Call it vibe voting: employees making presence decisions based on experiential value rather than policy compliance.

I've written about this principle in multiple contexts:

• All CEOs agree ​where work happens​ matters​
• ​Vibe officing​ empowers individuals with personalized experiences
• ​Atlassian's cost-per-visit​ shows value in use, not just utilization

The lesson from Tuesday's election is simple: people show up when they believe their participation matters. Mandate presence and you get compliance theater. Create compelling gatherings and you get community.

Presence is a powerful vote for culture change. Make it worth casting.