A man filmed at the beach in the middle of the day has made a surprising admission when asked why he wasn’t at work.

It’s the question pretty much anyone who has scored a day off during the work week has felt like asking at one point or another.

You might think having a free midweek day is the perfect opportunity to visit somewhere you would usually avoid because of weekend crowds.

But then you arrive only to discover it is still packed, making you wonder, don’t any of these people have jobs?

This is exactly how Zalo, a 28-year-old expat living on the Gold Coast, felt when he recently had the opportunity to head down to the beach during the work week.

So, he decided to ask the question.

Walking up to a surfer who had just gotten out of the water, Zalo asked: “It’s 11am on a weekday and you are surfing. Shouldn’t you be at work?”

The man revealed he was “working from home” that day, confirming he was on the clock and “getting paid”.

Zalo, who is originally from Argentina, has always been “obsessed” with the ocean, taking any opportunity he can to get out on the water

“The idea for the video came from something I do all the time. Whenever I get a break at work, I check the surf cams to see where I’ll paddle out later and, no matter the time, there’s always a crew out there surfing,” he told news.com.au.

“It made me wonder who are these people? How are they living this life while the rest of us are stuck working?”

Zalo happened to have a day of annual leave booked in, so he went to the beach to ask the question he, and everyone else, wanted answered.

When he gets the chance to head down to the water midweek, he said the other people he meets are often FIFO workers, retired or people who work for themselves.

Zalo loves seeing people out enjoying themselves during the week and is all for “questioning the 9-5” and “designing a lifestyle that fits you”.

“That’s what I want to share through my videos and maybe get a few laughs along the way,” he said.

Speaking to news.com.au, recruitment specialist and author of Earning Power, Roxanne Calder, said the 9-5 model was “broken long before we started working from our dining room tables”.

She said a remote worker stepping out during their work day isn’t automatically a problem, with issues arising if doing so causes them to not deliver on their responsibilities.

“For most employees, the whole reason for wanting the WFH or hybrid model is for this sort of flexibility, yes even surfing at 11am,” Ms Calder said, adding that most employees are aware of this.

The workplace expert said there needs to be more transparency and communication around this topic.

“Maybe less about ‘but I’m more productive and get more work done’ to ‘WFH allows me flexibility to exercise and better wellbeing’,” she said.

“For many people, stepping out for a surf or gym session isn’t slacking; it’s how they manage energy, focus, and mental clarity.

“The future of work isn’t about face time but about trust, output and productivity.”

However, that is not to say it is fine to disappear at different times throughout the work day, with Ms Calder saying doing this regularly without context isn’t flexibility, it is avoidance.

She warned it could even be viewed as an “abuse of trust”.

“Of course, this doesn’t mean logging every step, but in a remote world, transparency is the new visibility. How is your absence perceived?” she said.

“Trust is fragile and some employers will fill in the blanks if you’re off-site for too long.”

The way the workday looks is continuing to shift, with the rise in remote and hybrid working arrangements playing a major role in that.

Given this, Ms Calder said it would be “unreasonable and unrealistic” to pretend we can draw clear lines between work and our personal lives.

However, that doesn’t mean structure can be completely abandoned.

“What we need now is adult-to-adult working relationships: clear expectations, honest conversations, and a little grace,” she said.

“If someone’s surfing at 11am on a weekday, but getting results, and showing up where it counts? That’s not slacking. That’s a different way of working, and for a lot of people, it’s working better.

“Again, it comes back to accountability and responsibility. That’s not a red flag; that’s modern work done well.”