penpushers
Office paper workers
Penpushers is the plural of penpusher, a mildly derisive term for someone whose job consists mainly of paperwork—a clerk or bureaucrat.
The image is of someone who does nothing but push a pen across forms all day: The penpushers in accounting rejected my expense report.
More common in British English; Americans tend toward pencil pusher.
Administrative office employees
- administratorsPeople overseeing operations
- officialsThose holding formal power
- functionariesPeople holding formal positions
- civil servantsGovernment agency employees
paperwork · red tape · forms · regulations · government workers · desk jockeys · rubber stamps · filing
Works tediously and hard
- underlingsLower-ranked employees
- menialsLow-ranking domestic workers
- lackeysServile attendants
- minionsObedient subordinates of power
clock watchers · wage slaves · office workers · white collar · nine-to-five · routine · tedium · monotony
Organizational layer between leadership, employees
- HREmployee management department
- complianceAdhering to requirements
- auditorsFinancial statement reviewers
- accountantsFinancial record keepers
administrators · office politics · memos · reports · spreadsheets · meetings · performance reviews · KPIs
clerks
Administrative office employees
- administratorsPeople overseeing operations
- officialsThose holding formal power
- functionariesPeople holding formal positions
civil servants · paperwork · red tape · forms · regulations · government workers · desk jockeys · rubber stamps · filing · procedures
drudges
Works tediously and hard
- underlingsLower-ranked employees
- menialsLow-ranking domestic workers
- lackeysServile attendants
minions · clock watchers · wage slaves · office workers · white collar · nine-to-five · routine · tedium · monotony · uninspired
middle management
Organizational layer between leadership, employees
- HREmployee management department
- complianceAdhering to requirements
- auditorsFinancial statement reviewers
accountants · administrators · office politics · memos · reports · spreadsheets · meetings · performance reviews · KPIs · targets
penpushersfield workers
Agricultural labor force
manual laborers · blue-collar workers · construction workers · farmhands · tradespeople
penpushersdoers
People who act
movers and shakers · men of action · go-getters · operators · practitioners
penpushersdecision-makers
Those with choosing power
movers and shakers · executives · leaders · power brokers · captains of industry