WFH, OOO, and Other Office Acronyms

workplace lingo explained

Companies love acronyms, and learning them all can be tiring. 

"Hey Paula, can you get that CFB over to ESG before the CGTO on Tuesday?"

Some of these phrases and abbreviations are unique to one company. Others are the same wherever you go.

For instance, if you recently started working for a company with remote workers, you may be seeing phrases like WFH, WAH, or OOO

To help navigate this new environment and not feel left out of the conversation, here are some of the most common office abbreviations related to remote work and what they mean.

WFH

This means someone is Working From Home.

It can describe either a temporary ("I'm WFH today") or permanent ("I'm a WFH employee") status.

WAH

This means someone is Working At Home.

It is a less-popular synonym for WFH, and can be used in the exact same way.

PTO

Someone on PTO is taking Paid Time Off.

Someone taking PTO will not be in the office, not be working, and may not be reachable.

OOO

Someone who is OOO is Out of Office.

This open-ended term does not specify if someone is WFH or taking time off. It only means they will not be physically present.

WFA, WFB, etc.

This means someone is Working From [Somewhere]

Some workers play with the phrase WFH by replacing "home" with another place they're working from, such as "Working From Airport."

Adapting to a new job, team, and office can be overwhelming. But the basic lingo of the job shouldn't have to be.

With some of this common terminology under your belt, you should be a bit more prepared to settle into your new work, whether or not you do it from home.

Swipe up for more strategies and advice on building your career!