While filming “Shark Tank” this season, Daymond John shot behind-the-scenes footage and asked his longtime coworkers for their thoughts on the “quiet vacationing” trend, where someone is “working” remotely while on vacation—and their employer doesn’t know.
A Harris Poll survey, released this past summer, coined the term “quiet vacationing,” and found that around the July 4 holiday, almost half of American workers admitted to the practice, per Axios.
In a video posted to Instagram, John approaches real estate pioneer Barbara Corcoran, and asks for her opinion on the concept.
Related: How to Get an Investment from Daymond John
“I like the idea,” Corcoran says. “It depends on where you go.”
When John asks if this means her employees can take quiet vacations, Corcoran replies, “As long as the work gets done.”
However, when John asked another longtime coworker, entrepreneur Lori Greiner, for her take, she had the opposite reaction, and called the practice “deceptive.”
“I think it’s wrong because one, it’s deceptive, I think you should always tell your employer where you are and be honest,” Greiner says. “They expect you to be in the office, or in your home working, if you are remote.”
Doubling down, Greiner adds that if you’re not “quiet vacationing” alone, chances are you aren’t working very hard.
“I don’t believe they are sitting in the hotel room working 9 to 5 while everyone else is having a good time,” she adds.
So does it really matter where you work if you are getting your work done?
If you have a solid Internet connection, are in the same time zone (or working those hours), and your background noise isn’t disturbing coworkers, there shouldn’t be an issue, but check with your direct manager if you aren’t sure. If it feels like you are lying, you might be.
It depends on your company, of course, but if you are a fully remote worker, your boss might agree with Corcoran and say it does not matter where you do your work, as long as you do your work (and well).
It looks like out of all the Sharks, Corcoran can add “cool boss” to her title.
