If we thought ‘moonlighting’, ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘rage applying’ were passé, we may have been wrong. With 2023 becoming a workplace-talk heavy year, workplace trends and buzzwords are also akin. As layoffs and cost-cutting measures bring our corporate back in the news, many of these words have now also become a part of the regular parlance.
While moonlighting and quiet quitting became the hits of 2022, rage applying and quiet hiring became the trendsetters of 2023, especially as they went viral on TikTok. But more than the words themselves, the trend of having new workplace buzzwords has become viral and so, now we also have new words like ‘bare minimum Monday’ (BMM), ‘copycat layoffs’ and so on doing rounds.
Let’s take a look at some of these top workplace trending buzzwords of 2023.
Bare Minimum Monday (BMM): We all have hated those ‘Monday blues’ at some point. Well, to soften that blow, we have something called BMM or ‘bare minimum Monday.’ Popularised from TikTok, the idea behind BMM is to approach of start of the week/day, rather slowly. This way the person also feels the pressure to jump into the new work week less and takes it easy.
Quiet Hiring: This word may seem like a new workplace trend but the practice has been there for quite some time. Quiet hiring refers to the process of obtaining new talent without hiring new employees; by picking employees from inside the organisation and shifting them into new roles.
Quiet Quitting: The word that took the internet by storm basically means doing the bare minimum at work. Quiet quitting stems from the notion of not putting in any extra time, effort or enthusiasm in work than absolutely necessary.
Rage Applying: As layoffs and workplace satisfaction ideas became popular, Gen Z started rage applying. The term refers to applying for multiple jobs at a time when one is extremely dissatisfied with their current employer. A way to look at it is that one is channelizing their anger (for current employer) towards aggressively applying for other jobs.
Career Cushioning: Just like cushions are comfortable, the idea behind this viral workplace buzzword is to put you in a position of comfort in the face of job insecurity. Career cushioning essentially means giving yourself alternatives to your current job without actively looking for a new one.
Moonlighting: Now, the word that started it all! Moonlighting means taking up a second job or multiple other work assignments apart from one’s full-time job. Lately, the narrative around moonlighting has become more about the legality of it and if corporate must embrace it.
