That sucks they think that's the case. You definitely don't want your "1 on 1s" to be project and status updates. It's a total waste.

Coincidentally, this problem generally contributes to turnover issues, which tend to happen in waves as groups leave. It's a pretty logical process on why it happens and while it's easy to fix, most don't: https://getlighthouse.com/blog/employee-turnover-why-employe...