Some people can get quite worked up about job titles. It’s not just about status. The distinctions between, say, a Sales Executive, Senior Sales Executive, Sales Manager and Senior Sales Manager aren’t only about hierarchy – they often reflect salary differences as well.
Your parents might remember when street cleaners or binmen were referred to as "Scaffies." Now, they’re called Waste Disposal Operatives. In the army, those tasked with cleaning latrines were unofficially called much less polite names. Meanwhile, "Personnel" has evolved into "Human Resources," and American corporate influence has shifted job titles like Director to Vice President. But it's not all one-way traffic.
A few years ago, a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla revealed that Elon Musk’s title has officially changed to “Technoking,” and CFO Zach Kirkhorn is now the “Master of Coin.” This latter title likely reflects Tesla’s $1 billion investment in Bitcoin and Musk’s frequent social media posts about cryptocurrency. But where does this trend lead us? Maybe the military was onto something with its blunt approach to job titles for latrine duty.
Instead of euphemistic titles like “Customer Happiness Team,” could we go back to the straightforward “Complaints Department”? Should management accountants be labeled “Bean-counters” (or perhaps more accurately, “Investigators of Unpleasant Financial Realities”)? And maybe the top recruitment consultants should be called “Magicians,” since we’re the ones who can pull rabbits out of hats when no one else can seem to find them.
