Name: Resenteeism.
Age: New, at least linguistically.
Appearance: Openly embittered and miserable.
Is this where you don’t show up for work? No, that’s absenteeism. This is resenteeism.
That means you keep showing up at work to appear enthusiastic, even when you shouldn’t be there? No, that’s presenteeism.
So what is resenteeism? Resenteeism is when you hate your job, but stay in it even though you should probably leave.
What you are describing is called “having a job”. No, it isn’t. Resenteeism is a very specific type of professional dissatisfaction, when people stay in unfulfilling jobs because they are worried about the risks that come with a change of career.
Again, you are describing every job anyone has ever had in the history of the world. No, because employees should be engaged and motivated. They should enjoy the challenges of work.
What monster decided that? Was it some kind of faceless staff management software provider? The term was coined by the staff management software provider RotaCloud, yes. And a good thing, too, because resenteeism breeds a workforce in which people don’t prioritise their jobs.
Yes, God forbid we should ever have anything else going on in our lives. This is all the fault of the pandemic.
Is it? Of course. Because of lockdown, for the first time in generations, people were forced to re-evaluate what they wanted their lives to look like, and many of them realised that they were stuck in dismal, unfulfilling jobs that asked too much of them. What followed was the Great Resignation, when all the unhappy workers of the world decided enough was enough and went off to do something that made them happy.
That means that resenteeism is … That’s right. It’s the core emotional state of everyone who didn’t embark on the Great Resignation and stayed in their jobs.
Have you ever met anyone who enjoys their job, though? They are weird. Hey, I enjoy my job.
What, this? You enjoy this? Yes. My job is talking to you, so of course I enjoy it. Wait, don’t you?
Of course not. I just act stupid so you can explain basic concepts to me over and over again. I’ve been doing the same thing for 30 years. Thirty years! So, leave.
What? Leave. Go and do something more fulfilling. Try your hand at some investigative journalism, if that’s what makes you happy. It’s much harder work, the pay is bad and the industry is dying on its feet, but don’t let me stand in your way.
Um, no, maybe I’ll stick it out here for a little bit longer. See? Resenteeism works.
Do say: “I hate my job.”
Don’t say: “Oh well, only 24 years until I can retire.”
