“Let’s circle back in the new year,” now perfectly acceptable to say at work, given its already October: Report

DOWN TOOLS: As summer fast approaches and the beach beckons, Australian workers are once again delaying the inevitable: their jobs.

‘Let’s chat about this again in early February,’ or ‘that sounds like next year’s problem,’ were traditionally phrases reserved for late December.

But a new report shows these phrases are perfectly acceptable to use now, even though there’s still a full two months of the year remaining.

“Australians are clocking off especially early this year,” says corporate communication expert Mark Thomas.

He says the pandemic, remote work fatigue, and the prevalence of virtual meetings have all played a role in distorting the perception of time.

“Soon it’ll be Christmas, then New Year, then Australia Day. The truth is that very little work will be done between now and early February.”

HR experts are advising workers to sit back, relax, and defer all work problems till next year, because maybe those issues will magically disappear.