What's changed in the world of office work in the last 16 years?

[NineTwoFive]

I gave up my career 18 years ago when I had children and needed to become a carer for a relative not long after, and have been doing work-at-home stuff or manual work to fit around being a single mum/carer until now.

I am starting a new job in a couple of weeks, it's office-based and I am just feeling a bit apprehensive about starting again in my 50s.

The office attire is more casual than smart, I think I'd prefer to lean in to being a bit smarter than too casual, not least because I raise the age average by quite a lot and I want to make the effort.

Other than that, has much changed in office culture that I need to be aware of? It's a tech startup and most of the team are young guys who looked between 25-35. Two other women maybe a tiny bit older, I didn't see them at my interview though so didn't get a vibe for the how people dress there if female.

I am feeling really apprehensive in general that I can even do the work, too - tips for giving my ego a soothe/boost welcome too.

I am feeling a little frazzled at this. They know I have some gaps in this regard and will train me up, but I already feel a bit brain fogged.

Ha! My younger relatives do tease me that I still have a paper diary (I do actually use Google Cal on my phone but I also like the paper diary to look at).

Nope.

Use it how? I mean, I use Chat GPT and Claude for a few things, but is there anything in particular you think I should familiarise myself with with these (and which other AIs?).

I think the main difference is the proliferation of people working from home, so communication is now mostly by Teams, email, etc., even between people physically in the office for meetings etc (if others are WFH).

Apps for everything, including diary management, booking holiday days, time-sheets, expense claims, booking train tickets for business journeys etc.

Paper-free (or at least paper-less) - far fewer printers, copiers, filing cabinets etc., with most stuff being online.

Likely you'll be expected to do your own "admin", i.e. typing, filing, etc., as firms tend not to have "admin teams" anymore, maybe just a receptionist, but on that note, you may find yourself having to "cover" for the one receptionist if on leave, sick or luncthtime, etc as they probably won't have 2 or more.

Generally, the place will be a lot quieter, due to less copiers, printers, etc., and people tend to speak quieter when they're on headphones on Team/Skype calls etc.

Communication generally less formal, i.e. less "dear sir/madam" in business letters etc as more likely to be informal emails or texts.

Oh crikey! I mean. I do use emojis and memes with my kids (teen/tween) but it just doesn't feel professional for work.

Listen very hard, and monitor your own conversation for the first few weeks. In fact, I’d avoid making any casual comments whatsoever until you’ve thoroughly absorbed the office vibe.

Absolutely anything that seems normal to you - wearing a coat made of cloth rather than a synthetic fibre; carrying an umbrella; cooking from scratch, watching a TV show, having a boyfriend or girlfriend, wearing leather shoes, reading newspapers (even online,) drinking alcohol, buying printed books - might be seen as odd, or even offensive by at least one of your younger colleagues.

Just keep your eyes and ears open …

This is useful, thank you.

This is good advice for life, thank you!

Ok, thank you.

Any fashion advice? Should I really turn up on Day One in jeans?

Can you please explain what you mean by beauracracy has ramped up?

Self-service HR?

Dress as yourself.

Aim for an air of quiet authority, dependability and reliability. The calm centre of the office about which all chaos revolves. Be calm and unflappable, even if you don't know what you are doing with the tech (!). They will come to rely on your steadying influence. Trust me on this one.

Oh yes, and take a notebook. Use it.

Definitely what someone upthread said. Teams, sharepoint, JIRA, etc. Massive part of my office life.
Everyone wears jeans in our office. Nobody lunches together. Nobody really talks as people are often WFH or on Teams calls.

I think I’d agree with this.

Issues like - should this be a Teams message or an email? Or failing to cc the right people in an email - can be weirdly blown out of proportion.

I'm old enough to be the mother of all my colleagues (and manager) and it's not a problem, partly because I'm in a specialist role, but also I think because I have similar aged children and so already knew what was socially acceptable and normal methods of communication for that age group before I started 18 months ago. Most of them will not want to do an audio call if they can message instead, and will want warning if a call is necessary. As PP said, emojis and memes are normal in the workplace. My colleagues are all lovely, but we don't have much personal conversation - I don't even know which ones have partners in some cases.
If I were you I'd wear black trousers and a neutral top my first day, nothing memorable, and then you can adjust accordingly thereafter when you know what others are wearing.

Ok, thank you - I shall remember this.

Technology and how it used will probably be the biggest thing. Your responses so far make me think that.
You will likely be using all Microsoft apps. Teams for calls and meetings. Teams chats. Copilot, share point, shared drives, diary, people will add meetings and calls to your diary, often back to back meetings all online. Everything saved to the cloud. Using laptops / chrome books /iPad rather than desktops. Probably a lot of AI. Internal systems on top of the Microsoft ones. Probably multiple systems to log into at once. Use of paper and printing anything discouraged.
Possible also hotdesking. People tend to just have lunch themselves. Does your new office even have a staff canteen? A lot of people eat at their desks or a very small kitchen area.

Thank you very much.

Get a big water bottle and carry it everywhere. Have you got a backpack sorted? Presumably, you'll be given a laptop and headphones.

For clothes, I'd look at somewhere like Uniqlo. They have good stuff that straddles the need to make some sort of effort without looking like you stand out.

Ok, thank you. I admit I am not fully up to speed with all that tech, though they knew my gaps when they offered me the job, I am still really nervous about this aspect.

I saw a small tea and coffee making station rather than a canteen when I was in for my interview, there is possibly a bigger canteen space elsewhere as it is a shared offices building.

Uniqlo is a great suggestion and we have one in our town, thanks.

Got it re waterbottle. This is a big change indeed from the old days!
I have a good backpack though it is a little well-loved. Not too smart!

Less paper
people wearing headphones / EarPods in the office to avoid talking to anyone
less face to face meetings
less travel (see above)
more teams meetings
so many bloody teams meetings
and teams messages that everyone expects an instant answer to

@NineTwoFive just to reassure, I went back to work in 2003 after 8 years off. Into a world of emails, more sophisticated databases, younger colleagues, different sector, differwnt landscape.

My prior skills of organisation, analysis and going the extra mile, were invaluable. I learnt the systems, did what I had to, listened and kept my trap shut in relation to anything that shocked or surprised me.

Good luck.

I'm a woman in tech, having worked across three companies and these are my experiences:
I tend to be smart-casual out of personal preference (dark jeans on the bottom and a nice blouse or shirt on top with clean white trainers). Agree with PP who said Uniqlo, it's great for the smart basics.
Messages for everything (usually Teams but might be Slack at a start-up), email only for setting up meetings or contacting external clients. People aren't typically very formal and messages are pretty colloquial. Yes, gifs and memes are common but you don't need to send them yourself!
Teams meetings are constant, but don't feel like you need to attend every single one. It's fine to say 'sorry, I need to catch up on X' to the ones that are less important.
Upskill yourself on AI, there's lots of courses out there for free, OpenAI has some good ones. You don't have to be an expert, but it helps to understand the basics.
Be prepared to struggle with logging in on your first day and getting systems access, it usually takes a while.
If you're in office, try and sit with your colleagues and go to lunch with them. It isn't expected but will help you make connections
Finally, no one expects you to be raring to go immediately, it can take weeks to settle in and get used to things!

Oh yes to the paper free office. Only the most tech-resistant and oldest colleagues at my place use notebooks anymore. Personally i find it much faster to type notes in meetings on a separate screen to the Teams call (using 2 or more monitors is standard now) so that I can input it onto Copilot to organise them, or send myself an email with the notes in to copy and paste into my various documents that require them. That way I'm not writing up the notes twice, if that makes sense.