Korean slang profile
퇴준생
toejunsaeng
Preparing to leave your job
Someone preparing to quit while still employed at their current workplace.
- Expanded form
- 퇴사 준비생Preparing to leave your job
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- Nov 1, 2017
- Documented trend period
- Not verified
This is the earliest source we have verified, not the date the term was coined.
01Examples, with English translations
- Example by Julimmal
요즘은 회사를 다니면서 퇴준생으로 지내는 친구가 많아.
A lot of my friends are preparing to leave their jobs while still working there.
- Quoted from a source
퇴준생’이란 ‘퇴사 준비생’이라는 뜻[2]
‘퇴준생’ means ‘a person preparing to leave the company’
English translation by Julimmal.
02Documented history
- November 2017Yonhap News reported that the number of ‘퇴준생’ secretly preparing to leave the company after having worked hard to join the company is increasing.[1]
- December 2017SBS introduced ‘퇴준생’, a new term for office workers that became popular this year, and explained its meaning as ‘a student preparing to leave the company’.[2]
03Origin & word formation
Short for 퇴사 준비생, someone preparing to leave a job. A 2017 SBS article explicitly gives this explanation. Who first used it and when have not been verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationHigh
The article explicitly explains the term. When it was first used is unknown.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- [마이더스] 대한민국 직장인 해부 (연합뉴스)Published Nov 1, 2017Original source checked Nov 5, 2026
- [오!클릭] '넵병' '퇴준생'…올해 인기 얻은 직장인 신조어는 (SBS)Published Dec 5, 2017Original source checked Nov 5, 2026