uptitling • v & n, technique for giving lowly workers grand-sounding titles, to increase their job satisfaction without having to give them any more money

INCIDENCE: cases have allegedly been found of receptionists being known as heads of verbal communications, window cleaners being known as optical illuminator enhancers, and gardeners being called technical horticultural maintenance officers.

CAUSE: study found nearly half of those surveyed would be satisfied with an enhancement in their job title, even if their actual job remained unchanged.

TREND: also known as title inflation - a phenomenon born in the 1970s when high levels of inflation, wage claims and pay disputes meant that employers increasingly turned to uptitling their workers to help keep them happy.

Ironically it now seems to be happening in time of low inflation when it can be hard to justify pay rises.

COMPARE: employers are happy therefore to "uptitle" employees. But beware if tempted to indulge in a bit of self-uptitling - i.e. enhancing your own CV. Firms are now using sophisticated computer programmes to scan CVs for exaggerated claims, bogus qualifications and bloated references.

DANGER: you may find yourself losing your senior associate assistant executive status before you even started, (you may even find yourself  being resigned, cf. )

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