Christmas is nearly here, which means that for some of us itโs time to set those out-of-office messages. We already know you like the ones you probably shouldnโt use. But have you considered taking a leaf from the spicy gen Z playbook?
These gems of course come from the Oilshore TikTok account and look, itโs entirely possible that they have been staged for the sake of humour. But having worked for a company with a youth media publicationโฆ Iโve seen some interesting emails and Slack messages in my time.
So I like to think our gen Z comrades in the office trenches really are out here making out of office messages a whole lot less boring for us all.
Letโs get into some of the best. And if you pick up a general โleave me aloneโ trend in these โ yes. And I respect it. Aggressively maintaining work-life balance is important:
- โDo not contact me while Iโm on leave or Iโll report you to HRโ;
- โERROR 404: Employee not foundโ;
- โGet somebody else to do itโ;
- โPlease enjoy your break from meโ;
- โI am out of the office currently. Unfortunately, I will be back tomorrowโ;
- โKnock knock. Whoโs there? Not meโ;
- โIf you need meโฆ too badโ;
- โOn holiday. Do I have access to the internet? Yes. Am I going to use it to respond to your email? Noโ;
- โIโm unsure why youโre emailing me when I put this in my calendar months agoโ;
- โContact literally anyone else but meโ; and
- โEnjoying life! Will be back when I run out of money.โ
And if that wasnโt enough, the account also has some stellar gen Z email sign-offs as well:
- โAnother day, another slayโ;
- โLukewarm regardsโ;
- โMean regardsโ;
- โLive, laugh, leave me aloneโ;
- Insert pleasantry here*;
- โSlay, serve, surviveโ;
- โPlease hesitate to reach outโ; and
- โIf you have any questions, please ask somebody else.โ
This article was first published on SmartCompany on December 16, 2022.
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