It's here: 'Work' is the new collective term for all items you track in Jira
Last year, we announced our commitment to evolving the language in our tools to better reflect the diverse ways teams define and manage their work in Jira.
Starting today, we're moving to using ‘work’ as the new term for everything you track in Jira.
Our goal is to make Jira the place of work for all teams, ensuring that the language in our tools is accessible and supportive of this vision.
We understand that this is a significant change, and may require time for teams to adjust – however, we're confident that this shift marks the beginning of a broader, more inclusive approach to managing work in Jira.
What’s changing today
This month, you’ll begin to see ‘work' and ‘work item’ terminology replacing 'issue’ across our Jira Cloud products and experiences.
As we implement this change, you may still encounter the term 'issue' in some areas of our tools, particularly within admin experiences and support documentation. We’re working hard to resolve these inconsistencies over the coming weeks.
There are no changes to existing APIs; they will continue to function as usual with the term ‘issue’ for the time being. Likewise, your current filters and saved searches will still support the term 'issue' to ensure backward compatibility. For more information, read our developer update.
We’re committed to making Jira speak your language
This update is just the initial phase of a larger plan to better incorporate your team’s specific language into Jira, reducing the reliance on a single, ‘catch-all’ term.
So, how are we doing this? Just like today, you’ll be able to customize as many work types as needed to align with your team's workflows, fields, and automation preferences.
We’re extending that functionality, and making Jira smarter. Now, when you’re working on a specific type of work, the interface will dynamically adjust its language—your language—to fit that context.
For instance, when viewing the details of a work item, the UI will update in various places to specifically reflect the type of work you’re engaged in. So, if you’re working on a standard task, Jira’s terminology will adjust to align with this context.
Similarly, when checking your notifications, updates will be tailored to more accurately reflect the type of work they’re related to.
Whether that’s a marketing team’s launch, a sales team’s lead, or a software team’s bug, your notifications will clearly specify this context.
These are just some of the updates coming soon that incorporate the language you use for your unique work types. We’re continuing to explore more ways to personalize Jira to suit the way you work, and welcome your thoughts and ideas.
The road to 'work' in Jira
As we implement these changes, we’re open to your continued questions and feedback. We’ve updated our FAQs to address common questions, and our support team is available to assist you with any issues that you encounter due to the renaming.
Thank you for your patience and support as we refine Jira's language to better align with the needs of all teams.
Note: We’ll also begin transitioning users to the new navigation in March 2025. The new navigation is a redesigned experience that prioritizes efficiency, clarity, and adaptability. Read more about the new navigation.
FAQs
Q. Why not use terms like ‘item,’ ‘record,' or ‘activity’?
While these are all valid options, our research indicated they can be ambiguous in what they represent. Our goal is to make Jira the place of work for all teams, and we believe 'work item' is a natural replacement for ‘issue,' as it more accurately captures a record of work, rather than just any activity.
Q. Why not use a term like 'ticket'?
We conducted research with a diverse range of teams that had varying levels of technical knowledge. Although there were many common terms that teams used to describe their work, most were not broadly suitable. Based on the feedback we received, 'work item' was chosen as the most appropriate term for all teams.
Q: Can admins choose what term replaces 'issue'? Will this be a site or project-level setting?
No, admins will not have the option to decide what term replaces ‘issue.’ By default, ‘issue’ will be replaced with ‘work item’ for all Jira customers at the site level.
Q: Can admins opt out of this terminology change?
As this update is being implemented across all our Atlassian products, we’re unable to provide the option to opt out of this change.
Q: Will this change be implemented in Jira Data Center as well?
As of now, there are no concrete plans to introduce this change to Jira Data Center in the near future.
Q: How does this change affect Jira Cloud APIs?
There are no changes to existing APIs; they will continue to function as usual with the term 'issue.' New APIs will begin using the term 'work item.' See our developer update for more detail.
Q: What impact does this change have on JQL and existing filters?
JQL clauses and any existing filters/saved searches will continue to support the term 'issue' to maintain backward compatibility. We'll introduce a new alias for 'work' to support the terminology updates.
Q. How does this change affect custom fields?
These updates do not affect your custom fields. If there are conflicts with your existing setup, we recommend adjusting your custom fields and issue types in your project or global settings to avoid any overlap with our new terminology.
Q. What impact does this change have on automation smart values?
There are no changes to your automation smart values at this time, they'll continue to use {{issue}} terminology. We're currently exploring how we'll be updating smart values in the future and will keep you updated.
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Josh Sherwood
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