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.

If you're open plan then people will use headsets. Or they might go and sit in individual booths in some offices. Generally there are no face to face meetings anymore so you could commute for 2 hours to sit online all day, which is why the return to office pushes are stupid.

No.one phones anyone anymore.

It's all teams messaging and teams calls now.

This may be less of a thing in a start up but in many workplaces there is a lot of process. For example, if you need to buy something on behalf of the company, you may need to register for a portal and jump through various hoops.

Self-service HR means a tech portal that isn't always user friendly. I recently needed to make a small change to my working arrangements and it was literally impossible - I had to "delegate" it to my overworked boss.

As I say, you may have the opposite problems in a start up - i.e. not enought proces!

On some of the cultural issues and clothes, have they assigned you a "buddy"? If not, this can be really helpful in navigating unwritten rules and the like

In one big engineering company, the big kitchen was used for informal chats/treats as well as coffee. We got free fruit too. External presentations by a company and ordering in food for them and other meetings are still done.

Well some of these changes were already true 20 years ago, shared drives very much in use, typing your own work as no general admin staff, tea-ladies were long gone and using 10+ applications every day etc was normal, but at least now you can use password managers and they don't all force password changes at different intervals with different requirements now.

And a lot of what I'm reading here isn't true in our office, we still have in-person meetings, still do a lot of business by phone (digital landline), no hot desking, people still have lunch together and chat, generally no one takes offence at anything and we do still talk about what we've been watching on TV.

Yes to the changes in the Microsoft suite, 15 years ago it was just word, excel and powerpoint for everything, now that seems very old-hat and lots of new, cloud-based systems, sharepoint, teams etc. Less paper but it hasn't gone altogether, but nearly everyone takes a laptop/tablet to meetings instead of a notebook. But yes to much more online training, awareness of cyber-security, GDPR etc

Thank you all. Back to feeling a bit overwhelmed and stressed now, worrying I have oversold myself in interview, though I didn't lie! I am sure I said something like 'whatever I am not familiar with I am sure I can pick up quickly' or similar, but I feel like there is an overwhelming amount of new stuff it'll feel a bit much. It's been ages since I've really had to knuckle down and learn new tech at any great pace. They do know I've been out of office-based work though, and my work history, and still offered me the job. I just don't want to let them or myself down.

I think I am also asking, is it normal to feel this wobbly?

Someone asked what i did previously. I had a niche tech-ish role that was split with something else sort of niche, some project management stuff. The niche tech part has totally been left behind in 2008 or whenever, and doesn't feel like it will help me now. I also feel tech moved a little slower then and I was learning on the job as and when it developed. I now feel I have been out of it so long and somewhat lost a few brain cells.

you will be fine

introduce yourself and observe office behaviour.
make yourself familiar with the software used and the employee handbook.

all the best!

Hybrid working and looser hours is the biggest change after 25 years working. People may come into the office at 10 and leave at 3, but still be working before and after. No one in on Fridays. Often no office Xmas party and less socialising generally. For context, I work in Central London (when in office) for the last 10 years in knowledge work roles that have been flexible in terms of time and office attendance

Completely normal to feel wobbly. Just take it one step at a time and make as many notes & lists as you need. Try not to rush yourself to get up to speed (easier said than done I know)

Could someone please explain how any of these activities could possibly seem 'odd' or 'offensive to anybody? They seem like perfectly normal things to me - 'carrying an umbrella'???

But seriously, what a joyless experience it must be working in an office these days. I loved all the offices I worked in - we actually had FUN, went out Friday lunchtimes for drinks, shopping with work friends, interesting chats at the photocopier, mild flirting with suitable men, Christmas parties, etc. People don't know how important the social aspect to office working is.

Your niche tech experience will still be valuable even if the particular tech application is different, because you'll have general skills from using it.

I think it's normal to feel wobbly, and you shouldn't feel that you have to hide what you don't know - they've given you the job knowing what your experience is, after all!

But there are also so many ways now to speed up your own learning using online courses and AI, so be reassured that that safety net exists and you can use it if necessary. (Pay for the account for the AI so it doesn't train its models on your questions, and make sure there's nothing at all identifiable or confidential in any prompts you use at home, that's the main thing.)

You could pick out one or two things now that you know they use, and get ahead by asking AI for an overview of how they're typically used in most businesses, and for suggestions for what the most important things to know are for someone who hasn't used them before. Ask it to make comparisons with things you have used before, too, and to highlight how things like terminology or user interfaces have evolved so things like that won't be completely unexpected.

You will be fine!

But there was so much jargon 20 years ago (and longer) too, that hasn't changed, we used to play buzzword bingo in the 90s, had lists of company acronyms (and make up rude ones of our own), roll our eyes when managers used them in presentations, it's just the jargon itself that has changed.

start/finish times are not as rigid, I used to have to clock in by 9 with an electronic card and every week the boss would get a list of everyone's clock in times with any after 9 in red, too many and you got told off. Now everyone is on teams on their phones well into the evening, we have an email footer saying 'please don't feel you have to respond out of hours' but the senior team all do it anyway.

Completely normal, especially after such a long break. I felt SO sick on the way in on my first day - but I do think that the anticipation is far worse than the reality. They have employed you, knowing how long of a break you have had, so they won't expect you to be at 100% speed by 10am on your first day!!

Be open minded if you have non-binary colleagues. Most people sign off with their she/her and he/ him or they/them. And Gen Z can be v triggered by Gen X chat, don’t be too opinionated until you’ve read the room. I’ve just been chatting to a 55 yr old friend who has had to fire several Gen X colleagues for not being PC enough. Your company might be relaxed but it’s worth being open minded and sensitive to LGBTQ+ issues.

I thought the she/ her thing was passe now?

I don’t know anyone who uses pronouns, apart from some Americans. Definitely none of the GenZ I work with. I think that fad has had its day.

@YabbadabbadoooooooI work in the CS and none of us have pronouns in our signature in our dept. What does "being fired for not being PC enough?" mean in the real world? That doesn't sound lawful or accurate - and "several" people? Really? Most people I know say absolutely nothing controversial at work at all.....!

Yes several. He works in HR in media and has had to fire several people for the slightest things that seem ridiculous.

Sure, Jan

@NineTwoFive thanks for starting this thread, its been so interesting.

i’m in a similar position, also feeling a bit overwhelmed but also excited to get started.

i’ve been self employed for 20 yrs while looking after 2 additional needs kids. Now starting a 9-5 corporate. I am going to be knackered!!

thanks for all the great info!

People have mostly stopped doing that pronoun signalling rubbish. And I work in a very ‘trendy’ industry!

Yeah, just don’t be an arsehole and you won’t get fired. The only Gen X I know ‘moved out the company’ for his views pretty much thought you could harrass women and was a borderline racist. His type was abundant 25 years ago. Thank god they’re now sacked