sunshine shift noun [C]
/ˈsʌn.ʃaɪn.ʃɪft/
a period of time worked by an employee of a café or restaurant that can only open outdoors, and which can be cancelled by the employer if the weather is not good enough to attract customers
Make space in your Covid dictionary for another new entry: the “sunshine shift”, a post-plague play on the zero-hours contract, in which hospitality workers are guaranteed work only when the sun is out. Sunshine shifts will be a reality for bar and waiting staff working at Liverpool venues owned by Natalie Haywood’s Leaf Group … She is resigned to probably operating at a loss until she can open up indoors.
[theguardian.com, 6 April 2021]
https://poll.fm/10814739
human cloud noun [S]
/ˌhjuː.mən.ˈklaʊd/
the freelance workers located anywhere in the world who are employed to work on individual tasks that can be done on a computer
The software tools that allow the gig economy to run are called ‘human cloud platforms’. Employers are beginning to see the human cloud as a new way to get work done. Jobs are divided into projects or tasks within a virtual cloud of willing workers all over the world.
[salesforce.com, 6 July 2020]
boffice noun [C]
UK /ˈbɒf.ɪs/ US /ˈbɑːf.ɪs/
a bed used as a workspace by someone who works from home
While the boffice can be used for any kind of work that requires nothing more than a laptop, notebook and phone, it comes into its own for a specific task that requires focus and for which there is a deadline. (Writers need deadlines, even though most of us do our damnedest to avoid them until they are right upon us.)
[independent.ie, 14 April 2020]
All those words seem to follow a fad which will have a short-lived, as their use, if any, will be forgotten as soon as new trends come upon.
Sunshine shift is a marvellous phrase full of adaptability and creativity.
Well-done!
For the first grant, I thought that the phrase sunshine shift expresses that a person works an overnight shift and off shift in the morning when the sun is shining. But after I read the definition, that’s another meaning actually – an employee starts the shift if the sun is shining in the morning – it’s good weather to have a job to work for a day.
All these new expressions are required due to the evolution of tasks caused by the pandemic but which is likely to continue, because this new way of working is appreciated by the majority of workers.