The Invisible Weight of Performative Presence: Why Return-To-Office Debates Miss the Real Problem

By Melanie White | HR Strategist & Executive Coach

Let’s begin with an uncomfortable truth: for many Black professionals, “going to work” has never just been about doing the work.

It’s also been about survival.

If you’ve never had to consider how your very presence is being interpreted before you even open your mouth or log in to your computer, then you’ve occupied a privilege that many others cannot access. For Black professionals—and by extension, many people of color globally—the physical workspace has long been a stage where every move, gesture, and moment is being quietly evaluated. Often, that evaluation is rooted in centuries-old stereotypes about work ethic, competence, and worthiness.

This dynamic is where performative presence takes root.

What Is Performative Presence?

Performative presence isn’t about delivering value. It’s the exhausting, invisible second job of making sure you look busy even after you’ve completed your responsibilities, because you feel the silent but persistent scrutiny of whether you belong.

For marginalized professionals, this self-imposed vigilance is often a response to what many of us know as the white gaze — an invisible but ever-present system of judgment, shaped by histories of systemic bias, that interprets our every action through the filter of stereotype.

The historical narrative that suggests Black people are inherently lazy or less committed to work isn’t just some distant relic; it continues to inform workplace dynamics. And even when leaders think they’ve “moved beyond” such ideas, those of us who carry the weight of representation know how easily these stereotypes still operate underneath policies, performance reviews, and everyday interactions.

The result? Even when the work is done, many feel pressure to stay at their desk, open extra spreadsheets, or constantly appear in a state of activity—to prove to others that we deserve to be there.

The Pandemic Quietly Exposed the Truth

Then 2020 happened.

The pandemic forced millions into remote work. And despite early predictions of chaos, something surprising happened: work still got done. Productivity didn’t plummet. In fact, it rose.

A widely cited study out of Stanford University by Nicholas Bloom found that productivity among remote workers increased by an average of 13% during the pandemic.¹ Employees took fewer breaks, had fewer sick days, and often worked longer hours at home, not less.

But for many marginalized employees, the most meaningful shift wasn’t about hours or outputs. It was about finally being free — even temporarily — from the exhausting demand of performing busyness under watchful eyes.

Remote work flattened many of the optics-based assessments that plague traditional office life. For the first time, some of us were judged by what we produced—not by how present we appeared.

The unspoken labor of proving ourselves quieted. And for a moment, many of us could simply work.

Why The Push to Return to Office?

And now, as companies race to bring workers back into physical offices, it’s worth interrogating: what exactly is driving this push?

Here’s where honesty becomes uncomfortable, but necessary.

1️⃣ The Extrovert CEO Problem

For many leaders — particularly extroverted executives — work is synonymous with in-person interaction. They’ve built their careers around spontaneous hallway conversations, impromptu brainstorms, and power lunches. For these leaders, remote work feels personally isolating.

But an executive’s personal comfort is not a business case for reversing what data shows to be effective for large portions of the workforce.

2️⃣ The Control Reflex

Far too many managers still conflate visibility with productivity. They measure contribution not by outcomes but by time seen at a desk, appearances at meetings, and hallway visibility.

This isn’t management. It’s old-fashioned supervision masquerading as leadership.

In reality, this dynamic often reveals a deeper leadership gap: many managers simply have not been trained to manage outcomes. They default to what they can observe. And for marginalized professionals, being “observed” carries additional cultural weight that most managers aren’t even aware exists.

3️⃣ The Real Estate Albatross

Billions have been invested in office leases, real estate holdings, and corporate headquarters that now sit underutilized. For CFOs and real estate executives, empty space feels like wasted capital. The financial motivations behind RTO often have less to do with people and more to do with balance sheets.

4️⃣ The Desire to Restore Old Power Structures

The unspoken truth is this: remote work disrupted the social hierarchies of traditional office life.

• Proximity to power shifted.

  
  

• The politics of visibility diminished.

  
  

• Informal gatekeeping mechanisms weakened.

  
  

For some, this was deeply unsettling. The return-to-office movement restores not just a physical place — it restores control over who gets seen, heard, and advanced. And for many marginalized employees, these restored hierarchies recreate the very systems they quietly found relief from during remote work.

The Mental Health Tax of Performative Presence

The consequences of these dynamics are not theoretical.

When marginalized professionals return to office spaces where performative presence once again becomes the unspoken expectation, the mental health cost returns with it:

• The constant calculation: How long have I been away from my desk? Will this be perceived as slacking?

  
  

• The emotional labor of code-switching throughout the day to maintain “professionalism” defined by dominant culture norms.

  
  

• The vigilance of watching facial expressions and reading subtle cues to assess if your competence is being silently questioned.

  
  
  
  

This is cumulative. Over weeks, months, and years, it contributes to higher burnout rates, anxiety, and disengagement. And when burnout finally overtakes ambition, companies lose some of their highest-performing talent — often without realizing they’ve created the very conditions that drove them away.

The Questions Every Leader Must Now Ask

If you are serious about building an equitable, effective workplace — whether you lead a team of 5 or a global organization — you must start here.

Ask yourself, courageously:

• Am I measuring my team’s value by what they produce, or how visible they are?

  
  

• Do I assume people need to be supervised in order to perform? If so, what does that say about my trust in them?

  
  

• Have I ever privately questioned the work ethic of a marginalized employee based on physical presence rather than results?

  
  

• When have I allowed my own discomfort with silence, autonomy, or reduced visibility to shape policy decisions?

  
  

• Have I equipped my managers to lead by deliverables, or am I leaving them to default to surveillance-based leadership?

  
  

• How much invisible labor am I asking my marginalized employees to carry — simply to make me feel comfortable as a leader?

The Redesign Opportunity — If Leaders Are Brave Enough

The future of work isn’t just about where people sit. It’s about how much control leaders think they need to retain in order to feel secure.

If companies truly want to create equitable, high-performing organizations, several non-negotiables must emerge:

✅ Outcome-Based Leadership

Performance is what gets delivered — not what gets performed for show. Managers must be trained to lead by clearly defined deliverables, not by face time.

✅ Make The Office A Resource, Not A Requirement

Physical offices can still play a role. But they should function as optional collaboration hubs — not mandates rooted in outdated ideas of productivity.

✅ Acknowledge Invisible Labor Exists

Psychological safety requires more than DEI statements. It requires actively dismantling the daily stressors that come with performative presence — including interrogating leadership biases that unconsciously fuel it.

✅ Measure Equity Beyond Diversity

It’s not enough to hire marginalized professionals. Leaders must regularly assess whether those professionals feel safe, seen, and trusted — without the need to perform constant busyness for white comfort.

What Happens When Performative Presence Is No Longer Required?

When people of color, underrepresented professionals, and marginalized employees no longer carry the invisible labor of performative presence, something powerful happens:

• Creativity expands.

  
  

• Innovation accelerates.

  
  

• Trust deepens.

  
  

• True productivity — not simply visible activity — flourishes.

  
  

And ultimately, companies that build these environments aren’t just morally better — they’re financially stronger, retaining top-tier talent that would otherwise quietly exit toxic cultures.

The real question is not whether employees need to return to the office.

The real question is: Can leaders release their addiction to control?

Melanie White is the founder of Sisyphus HR, an executive strategist and career transformation coach. She helps leaders build businesses that serve both profit and people without sacrificing equity, strategy, or humanity.

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Footnotes:

¹ Bloom, N. et al. (2020). Productivity and remote work during the pandemic. Stanford University.