Glassdoor Selects "Fatigue" as Word of the Year
78% of Employees Say "News Events Are Draining Their Energy"
Political, Economic, and AI Upheaval... "Employees on Edge"
The global workplace review site Glassdoor has selected "fatigue" as the Word of the Year for 2025. According to Yonhap News, Glassdoor announced in a blog post on December 10 (local time) that the frequency of the word "fatigue" used within the Glassdoor community increased by 41% compared to last year.
The global workplace review site Glassdoor has selected "fatigue" as the Word of the Year for 2025. Photo for article understanding. Pixabay
Glassdoor cited politics as one of the main reasons why employees are feeling fatigued. This year, the usage of the word "inauguration" surged by 875%. The inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States last November had a global impact, and throughout this year, elections to select political leaders have been held in various parts of the world. Countries including South Korea, Germany, Canada, and Japan all saw new political leaders take office through elections, making it a dynamic year.
Economic uncertainty and stagflation were also analyzed as factors causing fatigue among employees. The term "stagflation," which refers to the simultaneous occurrence of economic recession and rising prices, was used more than 300% more frequently this year compared to last year. In addition, the frequency of the word "agentic" increased by 2,244% over the past year. As the adjective form of the noun "agent," "agentic" has become widely popular due to the rise of the term "agentic AI," which refers to artificial intelligence that can make its own decisions and act independently, rather than simply following instructions.
Previously, when the company conducted a survey asking, "Do you feel that news events are draining your energy at work?" 78% of respondents answered "yes."
The labor market also contributed to this sense of fatigue. Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor's lead economist, pointed out in an interview with CNBC, "From the workers' perspective, the current job market does not feel like it is functioning properly," adding, "People are dissatisfied with the current situation due to sluggish hiring, limited career growth, and restricted wage increases."
Glassdoor explained, "This year, employees have spent much of their time on edge. They worried about which news story would make headlines next, what technological changes might occur, and what economic upheavals could arise." The company added, "Politics was extremely important, the fear of being laid off never disappeared, economic concerns grew, and rapid changes driven by AI accelerated." Glassdoor likened the situation of workers facing these various changes to "running on empty."
A woman walking at the World Internet Conference Expo held last November in Zhejiang Province, China. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News Agency
As the end of the year approaches, various organizations are attempting to sum up the year in a single word. Previously, Oxford Languages, a division of Oxford University Press (OUP) responsible for compiling and publishing the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), selected "rage bait" as the Word of the Year for 2025. This term refers to content-such as articles, images, or videos-designed to provoke anger or annoyance in viewers or readers in order to boost online views. The usage of this expression has tripled this year.
Additionally, the British weekly magazine The Economist chose "slop" as the Word of the Year for 2025. "Slop" refers to the flood of low-quality content generated by AI that is spreading online.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
