Almost one in three UK employees scroll their phone in meetings, Careerminds research finds

UNITED KINGDOM, July 2026 As mid-year performance reviews and pay conversations get underway across the UK, new research suggests many employees may be quietly sabotaging their own negotiations. Turning up late to meetings, missing deadlines, leaving messages unanswered for days and scrolling through phones mid-meeting are just some of the everyday habits that can shape how a manager views an employee’s reliability and commitment. Distraction in meetings alone is already estimated to drain £20.7 billion a year from the UK economy, according to The QEII Centre’s 2025 Distracted Economy report. 

Careerminds UK surveyed 600 UK employees to learn which work behaviors are most likely to hold careers back. From chronic lateness and missed deadlines to ignored messages, and phone scrolling in meetings, Careerminds UK examining how these actions vary by seniority, age and gender. 

Key findings: 

• Almost 1 in 3 UK employees (31.7%) admit to scrolling on their phone during a meeting in the past month. 

• UK employees admit to taking part in an average of 2.7 career-damaging habits a month, with 44.2% owning up to 3 or more. 

• Completing personal tasks during working hours (37.2%) and leaving emails unread for over 24 hours (35.5%) were the most common bad habits. 

• Almost half of over-55s (47.8%) say they stay silent in meetings to avoid conflict, nearly double the rate of 18–29s (25.0%) 

• Directors and above are 4.1 times more likely than entry-level employees to arrive late for a meeting (38.0% versus 9.2%). 

“What’s most surprising is that these habits don’t necessarily disappear as people progress in their careers. In some cases, they actually become more common as employees move into more senior roles”, said Amanda Augustine, resident careers expert at Careerminds UK and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC). 

“None of these behaviours is likely to derail a career on its own, but together they influence how reliable, engaged and ready for greater responsibility you appear to the people making decisions about promotions and pay rises. The encouraging news is that these aren’t fixed personality traits; rather, they’re everyday habits that can be identified, addressed and improved upon with consistent effort”. 

Full research findings can be read down below: 

• Distraction habits top the list. Doing personal tasks during the working day is the UK’s most common workplace habit (37.2%), followed by leaving emails unread for more than 24 hours (35.5%) and scrolling on a phone during meetings (31.7%). Meanwhile, 18.0% of employees admitted arriving late for a meeting. The findings land at a time when workplace attention is under historic strain, with the average employee being interrupted every two minutes by meetings, emails or notifications, around 275 times a day, according to Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index.  

• Bosses have the worst habits. Employees at director level and above are 4.1 times more likely than entry-level employees to arrive late for a meeting (38.0% versus 9.2%), nearly three times more likely to miss a deadline (26.0% versus 9.2%) and 8 times more likely to take credit for a colleague’s idea (12.0% versus 1.5%). They also top the list for leaving emails unread (42.0%) and ignoring messages on Slack or Teams (26.0%). 

• Gen Z struggle with time management. More than one in four employees aged 18–29 arrived late to a meeting in the last month (26.7%), 8.1 times the rate of the over-55s (3.3%), and the youngest are also more than twice as likely to call in sick when not ill (26.7% versus 12.2%). Older employees have a different weak spot: almost half of the over-55s (47.8%) stayed silent in a meeting to avoid conflict, compared with 25.0% of 18–29s. 

• The quiet habits may carry the biggest career cost. Beyond the visible slip-ups, avoidance behaviours are widespread: 31.0% of employees stayed silent in a meeting to avoid conflict, 19.2% vented about their boss to a colleague and 5.7% said yes to a task they knew they couldn’t deliver. The rarest habit, taking credit for a colleague’s idea (3.5%), is also among the most damaging to workplace trust. 

Augustine shares five ways to tackle the habits before they cost a promotion or pay rise: 

• Get organised: Most of these habits are planning failures, not character flaws. Build in buffer time before meetings, set dedicated times to check emails and messages, and keep personal admin to your breaks so it doesn’t spill into the working day. 

• Take accountability: If a deadline is at risk, raise it as early as possible rather than hoping no one notices. People are far more forgiving of an early conversation than a last-minute surprise, and taking ownership builds trust. 

• Communicate, don’t disappear: Silence is often remembered more than the reason behind it. Even if you can’t respond fully straight away, acknowledge messages, let people know if you’re running late or need to leave a meeting early, and be honest when you need time away from work. 

• Be present and engaged: Put your phone away, take notes and aim to contribute at least one thoughtful question or observation in every meeting. Visible engagement, even when it means respectfully challenging an idea, is one of the simplest ways to build credibility. 

• Protect trust: Give credit generously, let colleagues finish their point before responding, and take concerns directly to the person who can help resolve them rather than venting to everyone else. Trust takes time to build, but it can be damaged remarkably quickly. 

Careerminds is a global workforce solutions provider delivering career transition, workforce design and talent development to organisations worldwide. Our consumer career brands extend that reach, giving individuals AI-powered career tools and coaching at every stage of the career journey. Together, we combine technology, data and human expertise to create a connected ecosystem that supports both workforce transformation and individual career success. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube. 

Amanda Augustine is the resident careers expert for Careerminds, career.io, and its suite of brands: resume.io, TopResume, TopCV, TopInterview, Resume.ai, and others. As a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC) and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), she has spent more than 20 years helping professionals improve their careers and land the right job sooner. Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook. 

The research draws on a Pollfish survey of 600 UK adults in employment, conducted in May 2026. The study was designed to characterise the everyday workplace habits that can harm career progression, examining how their prevalence varies by seniority, age and gender.