LangAlert: "Presenteeism"

Reading a corporate Request For Proposal today brought back a flood of unwanted corporate-speak memories: talk of "messaging" to employees, pointing to the need for a "versioned" one-page sales sheet, among others.

But you might say that one line broke new ground. Shifted paradigms. Stood on the cutting-edge of state-of-the-art revolutionarian innovationosity:

" ... [the presentation should show how the service] increases productivity and decreases presenteeism and absenteeism ..."

That's right, "presenteeism." According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia (you know the link; I don't have to provide it), presenteeism is " ... the opposite of absenteeism. In contrast to absenteeism, when employees are absent from work, presenteeism discusses the problems faced when employees come to work in spite of illness, which can have similar negative repercussions on business performance."

BBS/LangAlert Prediction: Within five years, political pundits will coin the term "presentee voters" to refer to those who actually go to the polls.