What is the story about?
Workplace vocabulary often reveals the changing professional dynamics. There are times it also leads to eye-rolling and confusion. This year, buzzwords brought to light the changes in corporate culture, employee expectations, the rise of stress and anxiety and the hesitant balance between flexibility and productivity.
They ranged from social media-born phrases to HR-coined shorthand.
Anti-Perks
Things like repeated team-building activities and ‘unlimited’ leave that no one dares take are examples of benefits that seem meaningless or even demoralising. Unlimited vacation regulations, which leave workers unsure of how much time off is right, are an example of anti-perks.
Quiet Cracking
A step above ‘quiet quitting’ is when workers fight under pressure without publicly quitting. They just show up, do the bare minimum, and may even perform minimally, but the stress manifests as exhaustion, a lack of drive, and a feeling of being ignored.
Bare Minimum Mondays
A subdued protest against conventional productivity, promoting reduced workloads at the beginning of each week to prevent burnout. The objective is to combat burnout by concentrating on important, doable activities on Mondays.
Coffee Badging
Showing up just long enough to get seen — and a cup of coffee — before escaping back to remote comfort. The idea is you arrive at work, have a cappuccino, log in, and finish a few chores before signing out once more and going back to your favourite workstation.
Resenteeism
This is a combination of presenteeism and anger, as many continue to work in jobs they no longer enjoy. This catchphrase describes workers who hold anger or discontent with their workplace, which lowers morale, engagement, and productivity.
Conscious Unbossing
Rejecting conventional hierarchies in favour of flat organisational structures and autonomy. Conscious unbossing is a blatant indication that employees want to remain independent contributors and are not prepared to assume leadership positions, which might eventually jeopardise an organisation's leadership pipeline.
Hybrid Hushing
Hybrid hushing is used when management works around new in-office policies and allows their staff to modify or disregard the rules to better fit their preferences. It depends on the management; some think remote or hybrid work may be as productive.
FOBO (Fear of Becoming Obsolete)
FOBO is the new concern that workers are experiencing at work as automation and AI become more prevalent than ever. Employees are increasingly concerned that technology will make their jobs obsolete, and many are unsure of how to get ready for the change.
Office Peacocking
‘Office peacocking’ emerged as a result of companies' attempts to bring fun and creativity to the workplace. The objective is to establish a welcoming environment that will promote a return to pre-pandemic in-office work weeks since return-to-office regulations have become commonplace.
Quittok
This TikTok fad involves people quitting their jobs on video and sharing the footage on social media. HR professionals advise against ‘loud quitting,’ which is the opposite of quiet quitting because it creates a digital trail that might impact future opportunities.
Job Hugging
Clinging tightly to one’s role in the face of layoffs and uncertainty because they no longer believe they are in control of the job market. Many employees value stability above looking around, so they cling to their existing positions in the hopes of retaining them.
They ranged from social media-born phrases to HR-coined shorthand.
Anti-Perks
Things like repeated team-building activities and ‘unlimited’ leave that no one dares take are examples of benefits that seem meaningless or even demoralising. Unlimited vacation regulations, which leave workers unsure of how much time off is right, are an example of anti-perks.
Quiet Cracking
A step above ‘quiet quitting’ is when workers fight under pressure without publicly quitting. They just show up, do the bare minimum, and may even perform minimally, but the stress manifests as exhaustion, a lack of drive, and a feeling of being ignored.
Bare Minimum Mondays
A subdued protest against conventional productivity, promoting reduced workloads at the beginning of each week to prevent burnout. The objective is to combat burnout by concentrating on important, doable activities on Mondays.
Coffee Badging
Showing up just long enough to get seen — and a cup of coffee — before escaping back to remote comfort. The idea is you arrive at work, have a cappuccino, log in, and finish a few chores before signing out once more and going back to your favourite workstation.
Resenteeism
This is a combination of presenteeism and anger, as many continue to work in jobs they no longer enjoy. This catchphrase describes workers who hold anger or discontent with their workplace, which lowers morale, engagement, and productivity.
Conscious Unbossing
Rejecting conventional hierarchies in favour of flat organisational structures and autonomy. Conscious unbossing is a blatant indication that employees want to remain independent contributors and are not prepared to assume leadership positions, which might eventually jeopardise an organisation's leadership pipeline.
Hybrid Hushing
Hybrid hushing is used when management works around new in-office policies and allows their staff to modify or disregard the rules to better fit their preferences. It depends on the management; some think remote or hybrid work may be as productive.
FOBO (Fear of Becoming Obsolete)
FOBO is the new concern that workers are experiencing at work as automation and AI become more prevalent than ever. Employees are increasingly concerned that technology will make their jobs obsolete, and many are unsure of how to get ready for the change.
Office Peacocking
‘Office peacocking’ emerged as a result of companies' attempts to bring fun and creativity to the workplace. The objective is to establish a welcoming environment that will promote a return to pre-pandemic in-office work weeks since return-to-office regulations have become commonplace.
Quittok
This TikTok fad involves people quitting their jobs on video and sharing the footage on social media. HR professionals advise against ‘loud quitting,’ which is the opposite of quiet quitting because it creates a digital trail that might impact future opportunities.
Job Hugging
Clinging tightly to one’s role in the face of layoffs and uncertainty because they no longer believe they are in control of the job market. Many employees value stability above looking around, so they cling to their existing positions in the hopes of retaining them.
