The department that turned firing into a growth opportunity.
The partner who relocates for their significant other's job transfer or career opportunity, often sacrificing their own career in the process. Corporate speak for 'your career comes second.'
A document showing your salary plus all the benefits, hoping you'll feel rich when you see your 'total compensation' even though most of it isn't actual money. It's HR's way of saying 'you're not underpaid, look at all this health insurance we provide!'
The corporate euphemism for firing someone, borrowed from the Terminator franchise to make HR sound more badass than they actually are. Can mean to end anything incompletely, but let's be honest—in business contexts, it's the word your manager uses right before security escorts you out. Also works for killing things, which really doesn't help its workplace PR.
A pool of internal candidates ready to move into key roles when they open, theoretically ensuring smooth transitions. It's succession planning's optimistic assumption that people will still be around when you need them.
An internal system where employees can browse and bid on projects, which is essentially a gig economy inside your own company but with even less job security.
The nerve-wracking performance audition where hopefuls prove their worth while secretly wondering if their backup plan is still viable. Originally from sports and theater, it's that special moment when judgment is rendered before you've even shown what you can really do. The corporate world borrowed this concept and rebranded it as 'probationary period' to make it sound less brutal.
The practice of having permanent employees and contract workers doing nearly identical jobs at vastly different rates and benefits, which is economically genius if morality isn't a factor.
The HR euphemism for firing someone that sounds vaguely threatening, like something Arnold Schwarzenegger would say before shooting a robot. Companies use this word because apparently 'fired' sounds too honest and 'let go' makes it sound like you're releasing a butterfly into the wild. When your employment is terminated, you're technically ended, ceased, and discontinued—which is exactly how your career feels in that moment.
An imaginary reservoir of qualified candidates that HR claims to maintain but suspiciously disappears when you actually need to hire someone.