Many bosses don’t trust remote workers just because they seem to be AFK often.

In this story, a remote employee was questioned by his manager when his Teams status repeatedly showed him as “Away.”

Instead of arguing, he created a script that kept his status always “Available,” especially after completing his tasks.

Now, he found himself with plenty of free time while his manager remained impressed by his apparent dedication.

Wow! That’s some malicious yet genius compliance. Read the full story below to find out more.

Boss said my Teams shouldn’t go “Away” during work hours. Challenge accepted.

A few years ago, I was working remotely as a fancy IT guy and developer at a tech company.

Within the first couple of months, I’d automated so much of my workload that I legit had almost nothing left to do most days.

Everything that could be scripted, monitored, or scheduled was.

This remote IT employee was questioned by his manager.

One morning, my manager messaged me.

“We’ve noticed your Microsoft Teams keeps going to ‘Away’ every 20 minutes.

This shouldn’t be happening if you are at your desk working.”

Fair enough. I replied, “Understood. My Teams will never go ‘Away’ again.”

And I meant it.

He created automated activities that would keep his Teams status always “Available.”

Instead of arguing, I spent about 40 minutes writing a PowerShell script.

It launched a harmless train of processes every few minutes, like mouse clicking and Alt+Tabbing.

It simulated just enough activity to keep my status green. I set this to repeat every 10 minutes.

I tested it, ‘Available.’ Five minutes later, still ‘Available.’ An hour later, still ‘Available.’

Now, he could go out of the house without worrying about his status.

I grabbed my backpack and walked out of Starbucks.

I spent the rest of the afternoon, and every afternoon thereafter, hiking.

My Teams status never went ‘Away’ again.

The next time I heard from my boss, he was once again reviewing status times.

He thanked me for my dedication.

Lol. This is a pretty clever example of what happens when companies micromanage!

If OP had genuinely completed his workload and wasn’t neglecting responsibilities, I think obsessing over a Teams status seems pointless.

I’d have to give it to him for creating a workaround for hiking during work hours without getting caught.

Let’s read the responses of other people to this story.

Teams sucks, says this person.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

Another one chimes in.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who was denied a raise for “not being dedicated enough,” but then went on to discover what was really going on behind the scenes.

Here’s an honest opinion.

Finally, this one uses a mouse jiggler.

If the green light is all they wanted, he certainly knows how to keep it always turned on.