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What does “TO” (티오) mean in a Korean workplace?

Ask a Korean office worker if there’s a “TO” and they’ll know exactly what you mean: an authorized opening on the staff roster. Pronounced ti-o, it’s the English initials of “Table of Organization,” borrowed from military headcount charts — yet ordinary English speakers don’t use “TO” this way. When someone says 정규직 TO가 났다, it means a full-time slot has finally opened up.

Here a manager warns a hopeful hire that 정규직 TO도 언제 열릴지 확실하게 알 수 없어요 — there’s no telling when a permanent position will open. The everyday pairing is with 나다 (to appear): TO가 나다 means a vacancy comes up, TO가 없다 means none are available. It’s a genuine false friend — in everyday English you’d say “job opening” or “vacancy,” and ordinary English-speaking offices don’t count their “TOs” (outside its original military-jargon home). The abbreviation traces back to military staffing tables that listed every authorized rank and role, then spread into ordinary Korean workplace and hiring talk.