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.

Lots of different systems that require sign in via authentication apps. Training is done more online than in person which I can't stand, I want to speak to a human if I don't understand something. Lots of therapy speak nonsense about authenticity and inclusion.

@NineTwoFive on the clothes thing:

I am older than you tho have always worked, but I am now in an office with a lot of YP.

Typical attire us very much jeans and T shirt. I don't do jeans so I tend to wear a,casual dress (Seasalt, White Stuff) and trainers or smartish black trousers and a top that is not a tshirt. Keep it casual at first is my advice

If it's a tech start up do not, I repeat, do not dress in smart/business wear. You'll stand out like a sore thumb.

I'm a young millennial in tech, and I feel ancient sometimes.

In a tech start up, I think there'll be less bureaucracy than you were used to before, no more.

A lot more will be done on video calls. When you meet in person, that time is seen as precious and used for collaboration, major decision making/moving projects to next stage, and networking.

You'll be expected to use AI to be more efficient. First drafts, meeting minutes/notes, producing decks, AI personal assistant etc etc. I assume they'll use Claude, so there are some free Claude courses you can do. Worth a look.

Don't use email. Everything will be on Slack/Google Chat. If it's a tech company, I doubt they'll be using anything Microsoft, so find out what they use and familiarise yourself with it.

Congratulations on your new job! My main guidance would be to be curious and don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions. As PPs have said, you’re likely to have different but complimentary skills and you’ll likely see this quickly. Wear what you’re comfortable with initially and then adapt if you want to.

We use mainly Microsoft apps at work and Teams use has moved on from being used for virtual meetings and messages to now incorporating agents that you can build to automate repetitive, regular tasks. If you do have Teams I’d check whether you have the full licensed version as the functionality you have will depend on this (we had a less functional ‘free’ version which is now being upgraded to the licensed version). The best thing about using apps like Teams is the wealth of information about them, from Microsoft, YouTube, social media, etc so you can upskill yourself without needing to ask other people (if that feels more comfortable for you). Nothing wrong with asking your colleagues to help you of course.

I’ve worked in an office for best part of 30 years and it’s changing rapidly now. Much more hybrid working and people going for coffee rather than lunch, on a 121 basis rather than in groups or as a team.

They hired you so they must like what they’ve seen. Be yourself, draw on your past experience where you can and be open to learning. Good luck, let us know how you get on!

I get the feeling a lot of people on MN work in more classic office jobs like insurance and whatnot judging by how much they use Microsoft Teams and the clothes they describe. And the incessant HR bore comments suggest much larger companies.

None of that goes at a tech startup. No ‘line manager trying to be team leader’ type political struggles.

You’d more likely be using Slack and various SaaS apps for lots of different purposes.

These places can really do with someone who can steer the ship and keep people grounded as they do tend towards burnout.

Guard your time closely as people will pile on additional ‘can you just…’ tasks if you don’t tell them no.

Definitely dress on the casual side. I think a lot of the new things you have to learn will depend on your actual role - e.g if you’re doing their admin or payroll it’ll be different to project managing. But in the main, everything is online. All our HR, performance stuff, documents/files is electronic. Training is often just watching videos. Lots of messaging on the platform of choice rather than email, and definitely AI. I’m not in tech so we are using the typical Co-pilot but you might find they use something else. At my work people do often eat lunch together, but there’s no catered canteen and I’d assume those are a thing of the past really. It’s a mix of buying from the local places or bring your own and sit together. Good luck!

I just want to say it's absolutely brilliant you've got a job in tech in your 50s after a 16 year career break. No sarcasm, just congratulations. It's tough out there for women and over 50s, so a virtual high five from me.

Thank you all so much for all this, I actually feel a bit better about things than I did when I started the thread, though also still somewhat anxious about the new ways of working.

I have totally taken on board all the comments about what to wear and will dress accordingly.

And thank you, @FKAT , it's been a VERY long slog of literally HUNDREDS of job applications over two years, utterly brutal, thoroughly demoralising, but I've finally landed something and I am determined to make it work. Really don't want to go through the job hunt nightmare for a few more years now, and who knows, maybe never if I can stay through til retirement. It's ticking all my boxes, is a thirty-minute walk away from home, result! I could easily get the bus too but I figure I'll factor the walk in to my daily exercise schedule. Win.

Having worked on commercial reception desks in business and science parks, the one thing that has changed is ….. LIFE.

Like the life force itself has been sucked out of the office vibe. Less people, less jokes, less hustle and bustle, less people going to the cafe, no one coming out to the vending machines as the young lot are all health conscious, LIFE…. There’s no life left.

Get Claude or chatgpt at home and on your phone and use it to learn fast how to use things like Slack or Trello or whatever else they might use that's new to you. Consider paying for the business version for a month for £90 or whatever to have a bit more privacy and better models. It would be fantastic for getting up to speed quickly if the ecosystem of business tools isn't familiar to you, or for any other kind of learning. Obviously don't take its word as gospel for detailed how-tos, but for a quick overview of unfamiliar systems it could stop you having to ask some of the questions that will seem very basic to your new colleagues.

Damn, that's a shame. :/
Maybe they hired me to inject a bit of life into the youth!

Many thanks.

Nope. The number of heart emojis on messages and emails is disconcerting (I dint work anywhere ‘fluffy’ either). Thumbs up is also common - less disconcerting.

Even among the 25-35yo men range?

Tea Lady has gone.
No more long pub lunch 'hours'.
Quill pens repaced by biros.
Civil Servants are no longer civil.
Fax machine arrived, which was going to save the world. Gone now....World still unsaved.

So this is one of the oddest messages I’ve actually read on MN. And that’s saying something.

I won't add to the myriad of advice you have had - I've recently returned to my profession on a 'returnship' after 15 years away - so just wanted to say huge congratulations for getting the job and enjoy it! I've found that whilst the younger members of the team (who are my children's ages - young 20s) are able to help me with some of the tech shortcuts, there are things which I can teach them too, and they have loved hearing about 'back in the day' stories of what offices were like in the late 90s and early 2000s. I find the hot desking and the lack of a 'team' difficult - I do have a team, but we all work on different days and many are purely remote, so it does take some time to get used to. However, the younger ones do seem to do a fair bit of socialising outside of the office - I am just the wrong age (and usually rushing for a train to get home).

Re workwear - everyone seems to be a lot more casual, and Uniqlo was brilliant for basics that I just alternate on repeat.

Also - you will be shattered - I found going back to FT work after a long break, with all of the learning and upskilling I had to do great fun, really challenging but absolutely exhausting on top of a commute 3x a week in to London.

There are no phones on desks anymore, all communication is electronically. There isn’t really any water cooler moments as everyone is watching different things so less connectivity.

AI is rapidly changing everything.

I work in a typically young and ‘trendy’ industry in London and can confirm that young people still go out and get drunk. A lot!

Offices tend to be more low key though. You wouldn’t know if they didn’t tell you, unlike the old days!

It's common across all ages including male 50 somethings on teams. Emojis in work emails are less common but not unheard of.

Ha! OK ok! Very good!

Ah, that's so nice to hear you were in practically the same boat as me re the gap.

I know I am going to be utterly knackered for a few weeks, but i should ease into it soon enough. Currently set to be three days in the office, one day at home, four day week so at least it's not full-full time and I get to pick out of two days which day off, so reasonably flexible which is great and actually a balance I am really happy with. I am actually looking forward to it, to meeting new people, and even the walk - will no doubt start to see some familiar faces to do nodding terms with! Or the regular bus when it's raining.

no more fax machines and pagers

hybrid working

less formal office wear

2 factor log in for bloody every thing

hot desking or desk sharing (not allowed decorative items on desks)

no paper anywhere

I am sure it varies between offices, but for us, if someone says there's an 11am meeting on Teams, then that is when the proper discussion starts - there's no longer any 5 min period of grace whilst people gradually arrive and have chit chat.

Where I work everyone has a notebook and uses them everyday, loads of handwriting going on and the printer is always whirring

It's not a tech start up but I don't think you can make any certain universal observations as everywhere is different

Teams is used but only really for planned meetings, dress code depends a lot on whether staff have external meetings or clients are visiting but quite smart in general. People eat lunch together in the break area where there's a TV and kitchen

Who can say until you start OP, personally I'd be more worried about the long term viability of a tech start up than whether my trousers were too smart