4 Corporate Jargons Defining The Current Job Market Even if we might laugh at corny corporate jargon, the usage of exclusive language at work indicates a more significant problem.
By Kavya Pillai
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Everyone has experienced the awkward moment when a coworker employs peculiar office jargon that makes you cringe on the inside. Certain business jargon, like proposing a "paradigm shift" or referring to a meeting as a "blue sky brainstorming session," just makes us cringe. Even if we might laugh at corny corporate jargon, the usage of exclusive language at work indicates a more significant problem. An excessive reliance on technical, business-specific jargon runs the risk of alienating staff members, lowering morale, and undermining cohesive teamwork.
Hybrid working has become the standard for many as people negotiate the post-COVID work climate. Offering more remote and hybrid options could boost talent availability, according to a fifth of firms, according to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2023. Here are a list of four such corporate-speak to help you be in the loop.
1. Quiet quitting
"The practice of doing little or no work while being present at one's place of employment; the practice of doing no more work than one is contractually obliged to do, especially in order to spend more time on personal activities" is the definition of quiet quitting. Whether it is a real trend in the workplace or just a social media phenomena, "lying flat," or tang ping in Chinese, is a concept that dates back to 2021 and is actually about living a more laid-back lifestyle and preventing burnout.
2. Quiet hiring
The top work trend for 2023, according to IT research and consulting firm Gartner, was silent recruiting as a countermeasure to "quiet quitting". Acquiring "new skills without actually hiring new full-time employees" is how it is described. a focus on internal talent mobility to guarantee that workers handle the most important responsibilities without adding more staff. Chances for current staff to grow and advance their skills while satisfying changing organizational needs. Other strategies include using gig workers and alumni networks to flexibly bring in talent just when needed.
3. Productivity paranoia
Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, previously told the media that employees are becoming "paranoid" about their productivity since they are working from home. "All of the data we have shows that 80%+ of the individual people feel they're very productive except their management thinks they're not productive," he stated, indicating that it's time to get over the phobia. One of the primary conclusions of Microsoft's Work Trend Index Pulse Report, which was released in 2022, is the disparity in viewpoints between employees and corporate executives on hybrid work. Productivity anxiety runs the risk of rendering mixed work unfeasible. According to the paper, leaders should stop worrying about whether their team members are working hard enough and instead assist them in concentrating on the most crucial tasks.
4. Juggling two jobs or 'overemployment'
Instead of not being productive enough at one job, some people are now working two full-time jobs or side gigs without alerting their employers in order to make ends meet. Although moonlighting is not a new phenomenon, the number of computer workers in India who do so is rising. This is mainly because it is made feasible by remote work; according to the head of human resources, it should be accepted as "the future of work." Also referred to as "overemployment," it's gaining popularity in the US as well. Isaac Price, who claims to have maintained a 40-hour work week despite working two jobs at once, has started a community on the website Overemployed.com.
