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Woman calls office punch-in, punch-out system ‘archaic’, questions its relevance in 2026
A marketing professional sparked a discussion after calling the traditional punch-in, punch-out system "archaic".
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Office attendance systems have long been used by companies to track when employees start and finish their workday. While many workplaces continue to rely on the punch-in and punch-out system, the relevance of such attendance systems is being debated as flexible and outcome-based work becomes more common.
In a recent Instagram video, marketing professional Taashi Thukral shared her "corporate hot take", calling the traditional punch-in, punch-out system "archaic" and questioning its relevance in modern workplaces.
"Corporate hot take is that I think the punch-in, punch-out system at work is archaic, unless you are a daily wage worker or a factory worker," she said.
Thukral argued that even in 2026, employees in certain white-collar roles should not necessarily be judged by the time they spend inside an office. "I don't turn my brain on right when I reach the office, and I don't turn it off right when I leave the office," she said.
She also questioned the expectation that employees should follow strict attendance timings when work communication often extends beyond office hours. "If you're texting me on WhatsApp before and after those hours, why am I expected to punch in, punch out? It's dumb," she said.
In the caption accompanying the video, Thukral wrote, "I hate this dumb system with a deep passion", while adding a disclaimer that her views were based on her personal experience working in marketing.
(Also Read: 'Nobody takes my work seriously': Woman explains why she prefers office over WFH)
How did social media react?
The video sparked a debate among users, with some agreeing with Thukral, while others argued that the larger issue was employees being expected to work beyond official hours.
One user wrote, "Thank you for saying it out loud."
"Assumption made is that the person working is responsible, and yes if that assumption is true, punch in and punch out does not matter and is archaic, but maybe not all fingers are same," commented another
"i think you might be attacking the wrong point here. the problem isn't really the punch in punch out system (even though it is archaic), but the fact that we've accepted that our employers can text us and demand work outside of working hours. Our work SHOULD start when we walk in and should end the moment we leave. It shouldn't drag itself in traces into the other aspects of our life," wrote a third user.
"As an HR, totally with you on this. You can't expect to calculate productivity by the number of hours in an outcome based organisation," said another.
