[Jjinbit] Have You Heard of 'Regentism' Following the 'Quiet Resignation'?

Editor's Note[Jjinbit] is a shortened form of 'Jung Hyunjin's Business Trend' and 'Real Business Trend,' a segment that showcases trends in the changing world of work.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jung Hyunjin] 'Resenteeeism (Resenteeeism·resentmentism)'

This is a term introduced as a new workplace trend earlier this month by the American economic magazine Fortune. It was coined by the business software company 'Rota Cloud.' The word is derived from 'Presenteeism,' which refers to employees coming to work despite being unwell and thus showing reduced productivity. It combines 'Presenteeism,' often called 'soulless attendance,' with 'Resent,' meaning to feel bitterness or anger. While Presenteeism means showing up at work without spirit, Resenteeeism means showing up with resentment.

Resenteeeism emerged in a context where employee satisfaction at companies has significantly declined, but workers cannot quit due to uncertain economic conditions, such as large-scale layoffs by major U.S. big tech companies and growing global recession concerns. It essentially means that the workplace is merely a means to make a living, and employees are just enduring it. Michael Hobbs, a Huffington Post journalist who runs an HR-related podcast, described this term on his Twitter on the 9th as "just having a job."

Why are workers' spirits now filled with resentment? Analysts suggest this should be seen as a continuation of the 'Great Resignation' that shook the global labor market in 2021 and the 'Quiet Quitting' trend that boomed on social media platform TikTok last year. This indicates that it is not a mere isolated phenomenon but part of a major transformation in the labor market that began with COVID-19.

According to the U.S. economic media Business Insider, Adam Grant, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, said at the World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos Forum) in January, "In some ways, quiet quitting is a natural sequel to the Great Resignation." He explained that among workers whose perceptions of work and the work environment changed due to COVID-19, those who did not join the resignation wave but hoped for changes in their companies ended up in a psychological state that led to quiet quitting. Professor Grant described it as "workers who tried to change their work environment or situation but failed, saying 'It's okay. I just need to be a little psychologically detached.'"

A survey conducted last year by polling firm Gallup on 15,000 U.S. workers showed that employee engagement, which had been rising from 28% in 2010 to 36% in 2020, dropped to 34% in 2021 and 32% in 2022. According to a report released last August by the Korean employment platform Saramin, 84.7% of 1,124 companies said they had employees who left early within a year. This figure increased by more than 10 percentage points compared to the previous survey. One in two responding companies expressed concern that early resignations are increasing.

The labor market continues to evolve from the Great Resignation to Quiet Quitting and now to Resenteeeism. Unlike quiet quitting, Resenteeeism is characterized by openly expressing dissatisfaction, so this atmosphere is likely to spread further. Productivity loss is inevitable. It is a crucial time for organizations and companies to communicate and implement changes from the top down to help individuals realize that the workplace is not only a means of livelihood but also a place to gain a sense of achievement, collaborate with supervisors and colleagues, and feel a sense of belonging.