Does "Office Space" really represent what work is like?

It's close, but if you find yourself in that situation you should reassess and stop letting other people run your life.

Hasn't worked yet wrote:

Is it accurate?

Yup, Youuu have to make sure when Fri. quitting time rolls around you are finished and ready to bolt - many times the manager/supervisor will appear almost within five seconds of official quitting time & request Sat. & maybe Sun. he needs your help with an overdue project he's let slide;

"If you could come in tomorrrrowwww @ 8:00 AM and help with some loose ends that would be greeeaaaaattt"

:)

Potato Head City.

Yes, it's pretty accurate.

That's what makes it so good and relatable.

Good description of office work here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2_Yi-1Ryf4

I worked for GM and EDS around the era that Office Space came out, and I own the movie and watched it about 3 weeks ago.

Some places ARE like that. The two that I worked for were. Except it was frowned upon to have friends at work that you talked to. If you were part of the "in" crowd you could take a coffee break (the women did this) and they would sit around at 3:00 and talk about the grossest stuff. Their period, crotch waxing, diarrhea while pregnant. We also had less autonomy than the software people in that movie.

In one of the early scenes, they leave to get coffee on a Monday, at around 10 AM or so. We never could have done that. We had a dry erase board that had your name on it and you needed to write on there where you were going to be EVERY HOUR OF THE DAY, even if you were going to be sitting at your desk. The cubes had solid walls up to 4 feet, but were glass the last foot or so, so anywhere in the office bay people could see if you were in your cube or not. So, unless you were in a meeting, you had no reason to be outside your cube.

I used to fill up a big cup with water and then drink it and then you would have to pee about 4 times, then I would repeat this at least two times a day, just to have something to do. Their were long periods where you had nothing to do, like days or even months when GM went on strike. You were encouraged to do PC-based training when you had bench time, but when asked what language you should study, they shrugged "You need to figure that out on your own, read some trade journals, see what is the next language in demand." The truth was they didn't know either. One time they asked me where I was and I told them "in the bathroom". So they used software on the server to see how long I went without touching my computer and told me not to take more than 3 minutes in the bathroom. I told them I didn't think I could make it to the bathroom, do my thing, and walk back in three minutes (big building or 300 people).

I could go on and on. Good news is NOT every place is like that. Also this period started 20 yrs ago and obviously the workplace changes, Office Space was done 15 yrs ago. Also, you don't have to be like me. I put up with a lot because I had tow houses that I had just bought and a new car. Had I been smart (or smarter at least) I would have done what Peter did and found a different job.

Things have changed enough that EDS is no longer in business. They were once a 17 Billion company and once a wholly-owned subsidiary of GM, now they were absorbed by HP and no longer exist.

No it's worse.

Innotrode wrote:

In one of the early scenes, they leave to get coffee on a Monday, at around 10 AM or so. We never could have done that. We had a dry erase board that had your name on it and you needed to write on there where you were going to be EVERY HOUR OF THE DAY, even if you were going to be sitting at your desk.

Wtf? You had some crappy jobs, friend.

That sounds like an incredibly sheety place to work. Can't believe they kept anyone. I would hope most places are not like that. The places I have worked have not been like that, but I've worked for smaller companies where everyone knows each other to some degree, so everyone is (mostly) treated like a human rather than a robot.

Here. You'll want this...

http://www.staples.com/Swingline-747-Rio-Red-Stapler-20-Sheet-Capacity/product_562485?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:562485&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=562485&KPID=562485&kpid=562485&gclid=CjwKEAjwoMKiBRDHwoaQ0dzn0UwSJAAUk5JiKGDOuwMd58np-JyG-HousfKsjxxuLgjmjD7lEDrQQBoCDBfw_wcB

Some places are, some aren't. If you have a good group office work can be moderately enjoyable.

Hasn't worked yet wrote:

Is it accurate?

Pretty damn close. Pretty. damn. close. its clearly exaggerated so you get the point, but the exaggerations are far less bad than doing it every day for years if you get my point.

Hasn't worked yet wrote:

Is it accurate?

Not even close to being accurate.

Innotrode wrote:

Things have changed enough that EDS is no longer in business. They were once a 17 Billion company and once a wholly-owned subsidiary of GM, now they were absorbed by HP and no longer exist.

Many of their former divisions still do exist, pretty-much unchanged, under the HP umbrella.

biz man wrote:

Hasn't worked yet wrote:

Is it accurate?

Not even close to being accurate.

Oh.Well that settle it then...

Having worked over 20 years for huge corporations I can say it's close, but as someone else said it is exaggerated. Watch "The Office" to get a better idea. Again, it's a little exaggerated but I can relate every character to someone at work. "Better Off Ted" is another great show that unfortunately didn't last long. Both those shows had one episode about motion-contol lights to save money, yeah we have that. That's just one example.

I HATE when people at my place of employment act like that. I try to do anything to make it not a replica of Office Space.

At the civil engineering firm I was with previously, it was more like a wall street thing. Busting your ass with crazy hours, being a dude and being a part of the club, outside of work spend way too much money and drink heavily...BUT make lots of money and do really good work.

It's a documentary.

Hasn't worked yet wrote:

Is it accurate?

As others have said, yes, the movie is pretty close to accurate. I have been working in Corporate America for almost 30 years, and the one constant is that corporations are horribly inefficient. And when they identify an inefficiency, they hire consultants to teach new and improved ways of being inefficient. It used to really get under my skin, but after a while I was beaten into submission (so to speak) and simply learned to roll with it and collect my paycheck.

Incidentally, the "Dilbert" cartoon is a completely realistic representation of corporate life and incompetent management.

Not every workplace is the same.

BUT life in the light industrial/office park/suburban-exurban office building can be exactly the same, except you will never find a hot and humble single chick or an independent-thinking philosophical hero.

So no, the movie isn't like real life. Real life is worse.

There are other places to work, for instance road crew--but having been on one, let me tell you, there are morons, idiots, and a-holes everywhere.

But the cube farm has to be THE WORST of them all.

Hasn't worked yet wrote:

Is it accurate?

very accurate at some companies. I had a boss who did the Friday just before you leave thing to get you in on the weekend. I was on salary so of course it was unpaid overtime. Got a free breakfast a few times, but NOT worth it!

The next company I was at, the boss did the same thing. But he didn't have the decency to buy breakfast.

Finally found a place without that nonsense.

The movie has valuable lessons. You have to put yourself first at any job.