Tech workers are sending this 'Silicon Valley' star some surprising pictures from their offices

If you've watched "Silicon Valley," you're probably wondering: Is "rest and vest" a real thing?

In season three, the sweet and utterly useless Nelson "Big Head" Bighetti learns he's been promoted at the Google-inspired tech giant Hooli, but is unassigned to any project teams.

Confused, he joins a group of other unassigned employees squandering the days left in their contracts on the company roof.

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There's a lot of this going on.

Turns out, "rest and vest" is real.

When a startup is acquired by a major company, the founders are sometimes relegated to do nothing. They run out their contracts wandering campus while their equity vests. It's unclear how accurate the show's depiction is, as debated on Quora and Reddit.

Actor Josh Brener, who plays Big Head on "Silicon Valley," has no doubt there are tech workers living out his character's storyline. The proof is on his phone.

"Since the show has been on, I've actually had a number of people - including today at Google X - I've had people send me pictures of themselves on a roof, kicking back doing nothing, with the hashtag 'unassigned' or 'rest and vest,'" Brener tells Business Insider. "It's something that really happens, and apparently, somewhat often."

It's likely those Googlers in particular are just joking, but it's no less funny.

There is, at least, good news for Big Head's career future. It looks like season four of "Silicon Valley" will follow his and Erlich's escapades as they take control of Pied Piper.

"We're all secret Big Heads, you know?" Brener says. "As hard as we work, we're all pretty sure that inside there's just sort of like a dummy who wants to drink soda."