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?

[Morloth]

See I just don't care.

Put the money in the account and I am yours for the agreed time.

Work is not my life, I turn up, I do the job, I get paid.

I won't take it home and I am not particularly interested in socialising at work.

I always lock my screen when not at my desk, basic security.

[dolcelatte]

That's sad Morloth, do you really not care?

[FunnysInLaJardin]

I do care though. I don't want to spend my life in a job where I just turn up and get paid then go home. I want to be happy and fulfilled too. i spent too long in law just turning up and getting paid and ignoring the rest of the shit just because it was a job.

And yes, agree word that it's great when you're young and then great if you make it to partner, which is a possibility in small firms. But with big firms there's a huge swathe of middle folk who are not going anywhere and get the life bled out of them.

Oh and someone ^^ mentioned about a round the clock completion with ref to lower paid jobs. I bet that there are few working environments where it is fine to expect your employees to work 9am - 4am the next day and expect them to be in again at 9am. Where I worked during busy times that was the norm for a few days a week. No overtime etc because you were fee earners and expected to put the slog in. People were exhausted.

[maybenow]

corporate law is freakin weird - i knew people when i lived in london who worked all day, all night and then the next day too on a semi-regular basis.

I have NEVER worked that much.. if i have a bit opening coming up i might stay from 9am to 1/2am then back in at 9am the next day but then i'd get a couple of days off or short hours in return.

BUT... at some point in your early days you must have been drawn to the adrenaline of it all.. i mean, why else choose to do it?

[wordfactory]

funny the reality is a large part of the people (perhaps the majority) are not and never were cut out for a life in a cororate law firm.

They were drawn by the money, the kudos, the money...

They hit the decks at the middle stage. That's when it gets tough. Some get out all together. Many go in house. Most wouldn't have made it to partnership if they'd stayed anyway.

But there are lots of jobs like this. The arts world is excrutiatingly tough. Many are called but (very) few are chosen...

[TheLightPassenger]

I don't think what Morloth said was sad. She's obviously v resilient (a sight more than me anyway) and good for her.

[JessieMcJessie]

OP, I am confused that you say that they monitor time spent in the loo to make sure you are not spending too many chargeable hours away from your desk.....surely the time recording system where you log your hours, assigned to each client, is all the information they need? If you record enough hours they are happy. If you don't meet your billing target they aren't. So if you spend too much time not working that will show up on your time sheets- no need for them to waste time analysing loo visit data. It's perfectly possible to do no work while sitting at your desk. It's also possible to spend 2 chargeable units "considering strategy" while on the bog.

I work in a corporate-ish law firm, though not transactional work (mid-tier commercial litigation) and they treat all of us like adults to choose how long we spend at lunch, in the loo etc, provided the required hours are done and client calls and emails are responded to reasonably promptly. Your firm sounds like the exception not the norm.

[FunnysInLaJardin]

Jessie maybe they are the exception, although certain US institutions operate in the same way. They certainly don't treat their staff like adults, hence the need to monitor their every move. Time recording should be enough for you to prove what you have been doing all day, but I think that this firm just quite likes the extra level of control.

[Freshbloodletticia]

You don't have to log off when you leave your desk - only lock the screen. I work in government and that is the norm.
I think YABU. The pay compensates for the restrictions. Try having a civil service salary.
Also, you should not be viewing t'internet in work time, you should be working!

[FunnysInLaJardin]

so Fresh out of interest how much do you think a junior lawyer aged say 32 earns in a big firm. On average? IMO the pay doesn't compensate at all for 18 hour days with no overtime. FWIW I was paid £45k 8 years ago. My pay was low to mid level with others earning more

[dolcelatte]

Funnys, 45k sounds very low, even 8 years ago, for the sort of work you were doing. I can see that with legal aid work, the margins just aren't there to reward staff, but I thought transactional work paid well. It sounds like you did the right thing in getting out when you did.

[Morloth]

Sad? Really?

I don't feel sad. I just don't really expend any emotional energy on work.

I quite like it, I am pleasant and friendly but I don't care about it the way I care about my actual life.

I work to live, not live to work.

They put the money in the account, I do the work. That is pretty much what I need from my employer.

I don't want cuddly crap, I don't want social days, I don't want drinks, I don't need or want loyalty. I want their money.

I have a great life, everything I could ever hope for. I just don't get any of that joy from work. But here is the payoff, I also don't get any stress or sadness from work because I just don't care about it in any emotional way.

I am great at my job, and get paid accordingly.

Fine with hot desking. I rock up, I login, I do the work, I go home to my 'real' life.

[BumgrapesofWrath]

My workplace sounds very similar to the one OP describes. And I work in Local Government. Very stifling. No privacy. Everyone is paranoid they are being monitored and watched (which they are). Swiping cards to use the toilet and to use the lift are nothing to do with security IMO, just more ways of monitoring your movements.

[LifeIsBetterInFlipFlops]

Like your attitude Morloth

I'm really pleased to be out of the corporate world...but it's a timing thing, I've had great jobs and am pleased with my contribution and experiences.
I really appreciate my life now, consultancy based on my own terms; but I wouldn't be here without a corporate background.

I do know what you mean OP.

[Morloth]

Certainly simplifies things.

While others are stressing and worrying, I just shrug and get on with it.

[BrandyAlexander]

We have security tags to get in and out of each floor of our building. We have had it for many years. I think as more and more companies enable flexible working it will be difficult for employers to get useful data (in terms of monitoring employees) from them.

[dolcelatte]

Morloth, you sound very sorted and, in many ways, the ideal employee; someone who does a good job in return for a fair salary and demands nothing more.

In many law firms, however, senior assistants are an endangered species. There is definitely an 'up or out' culture in many firms, particularly the larger ones. Obviously, it depends upon your area of work, but in many areas there is a move towards having a smaller number of supervisers/partners and larger teams of junior lawyers (newly to three year qualifieds), who are considered to be cheaper and 'hungrier'. This gives better 'leverage', which means that as a business model it produces better financial returns for the partners.

Mid ranking assistants tend to be regarded as stale, not going anywhere, and inevitably, once they reach the top of their salary band, their income is not going to increase, there will be no or limited salary rises, which tends to demotivate them. I'm not saying that's right or wrong, just the way that it seems to be.

You describe a scenario where you want their money but you are not prepared to engage with your employers. I wholly sympathise, but I don't know if that is sustainable long term.

[Morloth]

Well it seems to be working out just fine. Have worked in the big international law firms and currently employed by a large multinational. I have lived and worked in 4 different countries and have been employed (apart from here and there with moves and kids) for the last 20 years.

I even once set up a law firm from scratch in London's West End which is now thriving.

They pay me, I do the work - I don't worry too much about job descriptions and I get stuff done. I don't whinge because I can't facebook/MN at work. I don't waste time complaining.

[FrightRunScream]

Every time I hear my old friends from the corporate world talking about work, I am glad I left! Eight years ago, before I even had DC (did have a life!). I took a 20% pay cut, but love my new job.

[Trills]

YANBU tone happy that you have moved to a job that suits you better.

YABU to think that having a picture of your kids on your desk is necessary in order to have autonomy on your job.

YABU to refer to the Real World as if working for a large company is not the real world.

[dysfunctionalme]

E320 We no longer have our own desks! It is called "smart working". There are only enough desks for 80% of staff, so if you are any later than about 07:30 the choice is limited
I have "hot desked" at a few companies, it's crap isn't it.

[FunnysInLaJardin]

dolcelatte £45k was way too low, but just another way that particular firm operated. There was no fee scale, they just paid you what they could get away with. So some assistants got paid £45k and others £200k. It was a disciplinary offence to discuss salaries too.

[dolcelatte]

I'm shocked that it could be a disciplinary offence - that sounds like a blueprint for enshrining discriminatory and unfair practices.

[aldiwhore]

I LOATHE clear desk, hot desk, use corporate mugs and don't bring a pot plant in policy. (To use it's technical term).

I don't think it makes anything more efficient. It certainly doesn't give staff and sense of ownership of their role, or a feeling that as an individual they are appreciated. (I have no issue with open plan, it's a good use of space)

YANBU.

It's bad enough when the private sector do it, but our local council just spend squillions on a fancy building that's all glass, and now they've gone down the corpy route of twattery... needless to say the already busy and underpaid staff are at a low ebb, productivity has fallen, and no one feels valued at all.

[FunnysInLaJardin]

dolcelatte up until recently we had no employment legislation at all here, so basically firms were trusted to do the right thing. That is slowly changing but there is still no anti discrimination legislation