1.
quiet post; sinecure; dead-end position
A position with little real work or responsibility, often implying the person has been sidelined or demoted without being formally dismissed. Carries a negative connotation of being shelved.
閑職に回された。
I was transferred to a dead-end position.
部長は失敗の責任を取らされ、閑職に追いやられた。
The department head was held responsible for the failure and pushed into a dead-end position.
定年まで閑職で過ごすのは辛いものがある。
Spending the time until retirement in a do-nothing position is a painful experience.
USAGE:
閑職 almost always carries a negative connotation. Being placed in a 閑職 is a form of indirect punishment or marginalization in Japanese corporate and government culture, where outright firing is uncommon.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 閑職に回される (to be transferred to a dead-end post)
- 閑職に追いやられる (to be pushed into a sinecure)
- 閑職に就く (to be placed in a quiet position)
- 閑職に甘んじる (to resign oneself to a quiet post)