Top Workplace Buzzwords of 2023 - From ‘Rage Applying’ to ‘Bare Minimum Mondays’
This year has been seen new technologies such as AI rapidly change the world of work. And, as we accelerate towards the latter half of the year, the workplace continues to evolve at pace. Both through the continued shift towards more flexible working patterns, and a greater emphasis on employee wellbeing.
With these evolutions comes a whole new wave of workplace trends and buzzwords - and there’s already been a LOT of workplace buzzwords to come out of 2023!
Heard someone in the office talking about a ‘lazy girl job’ or ‘managing up’ and aren’t sure what they mean? Fear not. We have put together this handy guide on workplace buzzwords to keep you up to date on the latest trends.
Let's dive in.
1. Bare Minimum Mondays
Made popular on TikTok, the meaning of "bare minimum Mondays" is one of the more obvious on our list. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Defining the act of doing the ‘bare minimum’ at work on a Monday.
The concept comes from the idea that there is often a great pressure to ‘start the week off strong’ and show up on Monday feeling refreshed and ready to go. But we all know the reality of a Monday morning is often far from that.
During a Bare Minimum Monday you might take more breaks than usual, enjoy an extra long lunch, or stay comfy in your pyjamas. You might even take it as far as having a day free of meetings or blocking out time for self-care.
2. Copycat Layoffs
The term "copycat layoffs" was coined by Stanford University professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, to explain the redundancies and firing that has taken place across big tech in 2022 and 2023.
Put simply, when executives at one organisation see their competitors making job cuts, they’ll follow suit. Whether out of panic or something else. It is a phenomenon that has affected people at the biggest organisations in the world. Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon are just some of those impacted.
In fact – at the time of writing – layoffs.fyi shows that 952 tech companies have laid off 227,591 employees so far in 2023 alone.
3. Quiet Hiring
Listed by Gartner as one of 9 key work trends for 2023, ‘quiet hiring’ refers to a focus on internal talent.
Many employers are trying to keep headcount down, by expanding the responsibilities of existing roles rather than hiring new ones. This isn’t necessarily negative, and can involve fantastic upskilling opportunities for existing employees.
4. Act Your Wage
As part of this growing wave of people who are rethinking their relationship with work, Act Your Wage means doing only the job you are paid to do. And nothing more.
It has become a way to practice self care and focus on wellbeing within the workplace.
5. Lazy Girl Jobs
Another new workplace trend for 2023 that was made popular on TikTok, "lazy girl jobs" is the name given to jobs that cause minimal stress, but still pay well. Often they’ll be remote or flexible jobs, that can be done largely from the comfort of your own home. Without any pressure to work outside of the contracted hours.
Despite the name, a ‘lazy girl job’ isn’t actually about being lazy at all. Rather, it refers to a mindset and setting healthy boundaries between work and home life.
BBC News covered the lazy girl job trend in depth, which you can read all about here: Lazy Girl Jobs – BBC News
6. Quiet Quitting vs. Loud Quitting
‘Quiet quitting’ is one of the more mainstream phrases on this list, rising to popularity in early 2022 following a mass return to ‘normal’ ways of working after the pandemic. It refers to just coasting at work, rather than excelling. Still working, but doing the minimum requirements of the job. Putting in no extra time or energy than necessary.
Since then, ‘loud quitting’ has emerged as a new trend.
Unlike quiet quitting, which is done mostly under the radar, loud quitting is a little more obvious. It is the name given to employees when they are actively disengaged, and often vocal about their negative feelings towards their employer.
7. Managing Up
Managing Up – another viral social media trend – is all about setting realistic expectations with your manager at work.
It’s about managing the relationship you have with your boss, being vocal about what you want from your role and career, and push back when you don’t agree with something.
8. Rage Applying
Often a result of burnout or boredom, Rage Applying is when employees – often Gen Z – mass apply for new jobs. You’ve had enough, and you fire off applications left, right and centre to jobs that you may or may not be qualified for.
Coming from a place of resentment or upset, it is generally recognised that ‘rage applying’ may not be the best approach to securing that dream new role. But, whatever works for you!
9. Climate Quitting
A 2021 Yale School of Management survey of 2,000 students found that 51% of people would accept lower salaries to work for a company with better environmental commitments or practices. Since then, the rise in Climate Quitting has hit the modern workplace. Referring to employees who are quitting their jobs to move to ‘greener’ organisations. With many even going as far as changing their careers to focus on tackling the climate crisis.
We wrote all about it here! What is Climate Quitting? | Hable
10. Toggle Tax
This is the name given to the cost associated with the time we spend toggling between apps during our working day. A study by Harvard showed that the average employee toggles between apps approximately 1,200 times per day. Equating to 4 hours of the working week!
Multiply this by the billions of us working on computers each day. That’s a lot of time and energy wasted around the world.
If this is a problem within your current organisation, get in touch with Hable. We can assess your current state and help your people use technology better. Improving efficiency and productivity in the modern workplace.
With the world of work constantly changing, so is the language we use around it. Many of these terms are likely kneejerk reactions to the times, fleeting phenomenon that will go as quickly as they came. However others are undoubtedly here to stay – so we hope these explanations help as they become embedded into our workplace vocabulary!
