How Gen Z and the Great Resignation created a wave of overinflated job titles

Tue, 02/07/2023 - 05:00

A baby wearing a too-large suit sits at a desk with a job-title plaque in front of them that reads 'Senior Executive Vice President — Associates are now "partners," and everyone's a "senior executive VP." Why did regular-old job titles suddenly get so pompous-sounding?
iStock; George Marks, Sellwell, C.J. Burton/Getty images; Robyn Phelps/Insider

Way back in 1993, the Financial Times ran a column bemoaning the grandiose job titles that were popping up in the US and the UK. "Monetary inflation may be under control in Britain, but the same cannot be said for job titles," wrote Adrian Furnham, a professor at University College London. "Nearly all Americans over the age of 23 seem to have the title 'executive vice-president' embossed on their business cards."