Resenteeism
Showing up to work, performing the role adequately, but doing so with deep, ongoing resentment toward the employer, the work itself or both.
Definitions
Showing up to work, performing the role adequately, but doing so with deep, ongoing resentment toward the employer, the work itself or both. Coined in 2023 as the successor to "presenteeism" (being physically present but mentally absent), resenteeism was popularised by HR consultancies tracking the post-pandemic engagement slump. Unlike grumpy staying — which is visibly loud — resenteeism is internal and corrosive: the employee keeps their head down, hits their numbers, and quietly hates every minute of it. HR teams worry about it because resenteeism is invisible on dashboards but tends to precede sudden, surprise resignations.
On paper my team looks fine, but after the bonus freeze it's pure resenteeism — they're polishing CVs in the background.
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Related terms
Semantically related
- Grumpy Staying67%
The mirror image of quiet quitting: instead of mentally checking out, the employee stays in a job they actively dislike, openly grumbles about it, and makes no real move to leave — usually because the pay, benefits, location or job market make leaving feel impossible. The phrase emerged in 2023–24 HR commentary as recruiters noticed a cohort of workers who weren't resigning despite obvious dissatisfaction, and described them as "grumpy stayers". Unlike resenteeism, which is internal, grumpy staying is visible to colleagues — the complaining is part of it — and is treated as a culture risk that quietly poisons teams.
- presenteeism60%
(chiefly, UK) The fact of being present at work, especially if one is too sick to be productive, or working beyond the expected hours.
- Ghost Quitting58%
Resigning by simply disappearing — slowly fading out of meetings, stopping replies to email and Slack, eventually not showing up at all — without ever submitting a formal resignation. Borrowed from the dating term "ghosting", ghost quitting became more visible in the post-2020 remote-work era, when employees could be physically absent for days before anyone in management noticed. It is most common in low-engagement hourly or contract roles, but has also been reported among salaried remote workers. HR teams generally treat it as job abandonment and process the exit unilaterally, often with consequences for references.
- reskill56%
Retraining an employee for a different role — sometimes a genuine career opportunity, often corporate-speak for "your job just became AI-done."
- quiet firing56%
The active or passive neglect of employees in a way that leads to their resignation.