to be glad I don't work in the corporate world anymore

[FunnysInLaJardin]

I visited my old law firm the other night for drinks. All very swish and high tech. But the desks were banks and banks of white with aprox 2ft per person, no privacy and no personal effects welcome. You have to log in and log out even when going to the loo. Yuck. Twas like a gilded cage. Plenty of perks and salary but no autonomy what so ever.

In my current job I come and go as I please. Answer to no one really and incidentally still earn the same salary sans perks as my old swish suffocating law job.

So AIBU to think I am well rid of all that bollocks?

[Mintyy]

Aaarrrggghhh, I could never have done it! Never in a millions years. The largest company I have ever worked for had about 45 employees. The one I currently works for has 5! Much more my sorta thing.

[Otherworld]

I've just left a company with thousands of employees and can relate to a lot of this. Client facing areas are very different to back office. We paid for tea at 80p per cup. When we complained we were told it was cheaper than Starbucks! Then we worked out the company got a cut of the catering too.

My new company has 200 employees. I can't wait.

[dolcelatte]

There is certainly a touch of the Orwellian about a number of corporate environments. A friend of mine, who is a psychiatrist, tells me that there is a received theory that many companies (and law firms) are run by psychopaths.

This might seem a bit extreme but then if you consider many company directors/senior partners, they do seem to share certain characteristics - self obsession/love of status/power/money etc.; you can see that in different circumstances they would have signed up and/or said/done whatever was necessary to be members of the ruling party.

[ilovesooty]

Under information governance we have to log out when leaving our desks too. I don't find that at all remarkable.

[dolcelatte]

What is 'information governance' - please interpret!

[FunnysInLaJardin]

yes, I don't know what 'information governance' is either. It wouldn't surprise me tbh to find that some of the very driven people I know are psychopathic.

[FunnysInLaJardin]

I remember a sign up in a large US bank who had offices near us, and it said 'No Tailgating' It took me years to work out what on earth it meant. They were obv very keen to keep tabs on all their employees

[expatinscotland]

I couldn't do it anymore.

[poorchurchmouse]

I work in open plan and hate it - I find that the rest of the time, I'm just desperate to be alone, which is hard on DH. I used to have my own office before I changed jobs and thought I'd get used to it, but I just haven't. No-one's keeping tabs on how long I spend in the loo though.

[poorchurchmouse]

I work in open plan and hate it - I find that the rest of the time, I'm just desperate to be alone, which is hard on DH. I used to have my own office before I changed jobs and thought I'd get used to it, but I just haven't. No-one's keeping tabs on how long I spend in the loo though.

[MummytoKatie]

I love open plan! How else would I get to have random conversations on everything from healthcare to the X factor with people other than my friends / family. And we all over hear each others conversations so help solve each others problems.

It's great!

[FunnysInLaJardin]

expat I think actually you outgrow it. I used to quite like the 'glamour' of it in my 20's, but now it just seems suffocating. Maybe when you are trying to establish who you are it's just what you need.

[dolcelatte]

I still want to know what 'information governance' is - can anybody help?

[Bellakins]

To be clear the logging in and out thing I mentioned earlier was in regard to the computer, and not fobbing in and out of the loo. We have to do the same if we are away from our desk for any reason - client meeting, fetching tea, going to the print room, etc. I think any company that monitors toilet use is pretty low and I would hate to work there. I frequently sat in the loo for 5, 10 minutes in the worst days of my morning sickness to try and recover!

I have an open plan office too - it suits me really well as we work in "teams" and there is nothing very team-y about a separate office! I'd actually hate my own office.

[tak1ngchances]

e320 I work in a hot desking environment like yours and it is soul-destroying.
Fight your way through the London commute to arrive to:
No spare desk
Having to sit at a "side bank" of desks all in a row with approx 30cm per person and no power, horrible backless stools

Even if you do get a desk, it's invariable covered in dirty tea cops from the day before and has a wonky Keyboard/no mouse.

Inhuman

[TheLightPassenger]

I assume Information Governance is NHS related, catch all term for data protection, confidentiality re:patient records etc IME.

Not just the corporate world where people have to hot desk though. Though at least you don't have the chargeable hours bolleaux to deal with.

[TheLightPassenger]

interesting but depressing to see that the legal secretarial role is being downskilled/degraded these days.

[Jusfloatingby]

Thank God I now have a boss who has realised that the kind of work I do - research and writing - does not require me to be in the office 5 days a week complete with commuting, office politics etc. Am now intending to spend as much time as possible working from home and escaping from clocking in and out, office rivalries, working to set hours etc etc

[Soupqueen]

Are people confusing logging in/out with locking their screen? I always lock my pc when away from my desk which is basic security.

I'm a lawyer and have worked in a number of different environments (private practice, public sector and in house). I'd never go back to private practice, it sucked the life from me. However, I now work in an equally corporate environment and love it. Every firm's culture is different and what works for one person won't work for another.

[KarlosKKrinkelbeim]

I think law firms are uniquely horrible places to work and extremely badly managed, generally. if you think who they make partners - bascially those who glue their bums to the seat for the max number of hours per day - it's not surprising they end up being run by people with zero idea of what makes other human beings tick.
in house much better. at least there is an "us and them" camaraderie amongst the legal term.

[OnwardBound]

Unfortunately there are other jobs which require 'round the clock completion' and hot desking etc without a smidgen of the perks or salary of a corporate law firm.

Sorry but I reserve my sympathy for these employees.

It's not only banking and law that have the monopoly on suffering for their careers!

Congratulations on getting out though!

[dolcelatte]

I don't think the OP was saying that only lawyers and bankers are affected - she was just quoting a law firm as that is the environment she worked in. But yes, you are right, there are a lot of jobs where staff have very little autonomy.

[wordfactory]

funny i have a theory that law firms are fabulous whren you're jumior - so sociable and fabulous when you're senior.

Trust me once you get to a certain level no one cares how many times you go to the loo...hell no one care what country you're in. You are judged urely on results ie fees brought in to the firm. Which, if you're good at bringing in fees, leaves you with absolute autonomy .

[wordfactory]

When they're rubbish is that stage in the middle.

Too old to party, not yet bringing in fee income so stiil slogging for da man. Half the peeps there are never going to mkae it and are just waiting for The Moment...

[TheLightPassenger]

yy, huge problem as how to keep senior assistants motivated who aren't being groomed for the holy grail of partnership. I was unhappy at junior level, for me the social stuff translated into getting pissed with people I wouldn't really relate to sober, so I pulled back.