The newly coined term pre-cation refers to a holiday taken by a new employee on joining a company. In complete contrast to the conventional scenario¹ of a new recruit not daring to request time off until they've learnt the ropes and proved themselves valuable after several months of work, the pre-cation is a 'pre-' holiday in the literal sense – it's taken before the newcomer even sits at their desk for the first time.

 

新词pre-cation指新员工在入职前休的假。新员工入职以后通常都不敢要求休假，要在卖力工作几个月、了解了公司情况并且证明了自己的价值以后才有可能休假，与这样的常规做法完全相反的是，pre-cation（入职前休假）真的就是字面意义上的“预先”休假，是新员工到新公司上班之前的休假。

 

The concept derives² from the observation that the most capable recruits often finish one job on Friday, collapse³ in an exhausted⁴ heap for two days, and then pick up the baton⁵ in their new post on Monday. This means that they're being expected to start afresh at a time when they're still burnt-out from the demands of a job whose exhausting nature was probably what prompted them to look elsewhere. If, however, they spend a couple of weeks recharging their batteries, they'll arguably come to their new post refreshed, energized⁶ and instantly productive.

 

入职前休假的理念来源于对员工离职入职的观察。最有能力的员工通常是周五结束在老东家的工作，累成一滩泥昏睡两天，然后周一打起精神到新公司入职。这就意味着在新公司希望他们精神饱满全新开始的时候，他们或许还处于之前的倦怠状态中，而上一份工作令人疲惫的任务状态或许正是促使他们离开的原因。但是，如果他们在入职之前能够有几周时间给自己充充电，他们就有可能精神振奋地来到新岗位，充满能量而且立马就能有高效的工作状态。