Life in the modern office - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

I'm Sam.

And I'm Neil. Have you seen my pen, Sam?

It's not on my desk.

No, I haven't touched your pen, Neil.

... and someone's taken my coffee mug too! Agh, ever

since we started

hot-desking, people in this

office think they can do

whatever they like! Neil doesn't like the new

rule about office

hot-desking, the system

where workers don't have

their own personal desk,

but use any available

desk, on a temporary

basis. Maybe he should

look for another job and

quit the nine-to-five - a

phrase describing jobs

which start at 9am and

end at 5pm, the normal

hours that people in

offices work from

Monday to Friday.

Hmm, maybe I should quit.

I loved working from home

during the pandemic - no early mornings, no

crowded trains... and

no-one using my pens!

As the Covid pandemic slows down,

more and more people are returning to

work in the office.

In this programme, we take

a look at life in the

modern office. And of

course, we'll learn some

useful vocabulary as well.

But first I have a question for you, Sam.

As you know, I'm not an

office lover. Besides

disappearing pens, workers

have plenty of other

complaints about office

life, from co-workers who

never do the washing up,

to fighting over spaces

in the car park. But

according to a 2021 survey

by the Metro newspaper,

what did British workers

vote the worst thing

about working in an office?

Was it: a) printers not working?  

b) people speaking too

loudly? or c) co-workers

leaving empty milk cartons

in the fridge?

Hmm, I see stealing pens isn't on the list, so I'll

say a) printers not

working. That really

makes me mad!

OK, Sam. I'll reveal

the correct answer later in the

programme. Nowadays most modern

offices are open-plan,

large spaces without internal walls dividing

them up. The idea is to

create a sense of

togetherness, but many

employees prefer having

their own space, and use

all types of objects to

mark out their own

personal territory. These

could be anything from

family photos and holiday

souvenirs, to home-made

cakes and biscuits placed

at the end of a desk to

allow people grab a biscuit

and start a conversation.

Researcher, Harriet Shortt, travelled around Britain

interviewing office workers

about the types of objects

they use to decorate and

mark out their workspace.

Here she is telling BBC

Radio 4 programme,

Thinking Allowed, about

one young woman who stuck

photos and postcards onto

strips of cardboard: She had created this sort

of montage on this strip

of paper and would roll

it up daily - she had

a little plant as

well - and she would

take it to whatever desk

she was working at and

would pin it up to a

set of low-level desk

divider... and so there's

that sense of, however

temporarily they might

be in a particular space

in the office, they

still... there's still

evidence in this research

that people want to

feel comfort, and

settled and have some

sense of familiarity.

The woman Harriet interviewed used photos

and postcards to create

a montage - a piece of

work made by putting

together several different

items, often in

interesting combinations.

Her photo montage

reminded her of the

people and places she

loved outside of work. For Harriet this shows

that people want

workspaces to have a

sense of familiarity - the

feeling of knowing

something so well that

you feel comfortable

and relaxed. Harriet also interviewed

hairdressers working in

beauty salons about the

marks and stains found

in their workplace. Here

she tells BBC Radio 4's,

Thinking Allowed, about

a strangely shaped mark

on the floor of

one hair salon:

A sort of half-moon scuff mark

that goes right round the

back of the chair - so literally,

she's worn out the floor. It's exactly

where a hairdresser would

tread for many, many hours

of the day. And she took

the photograph, and she

showed it to me, and she

said, 'This is me. You

want to know about identity.

It represents hard graft'. Harriet interviewed a

hairdresser whose salon

floor had been worn out -

damaged by continual use,

after being walked on

again and again as the

woman cut people's hair.

For her, the worn-out

floor symbolised hard graft,

or hard work. Whatever your job, we all

spend most of each day

at work, so it's

important to have a

workplace that's safe,

comfortable and familiar...

where people don't

steal your pen! Oh, Neil - you sound like

the office workers in

that newspaper survey. Yes, let's return to my

question which was:

according to a 2021 Metro

newspaper survey, what

is British workers'

number one complaint

about working in an office. I guessed it was the

printers not working.

Was I right? You were wrong, I'm

afraid! In fact, the

top complaint was people

speaking too loudly -

another of my pet hates! OK, let's recap the

vocabulary from this

programme on the office

nine-to-five - work which

happens during normal Monday

to Friday office hours. Hot-desking is where office

workers do not have their

own permanent desk but use

a different desk each day.

A montage is made by

putting together different

items in interesting combinations.

A sense of familiarity is

a feeling of knowing something

so well that you feel comfortable and

relaxed around it.

When something is worn out

from overuse, it's so old or damaged.

And finally, hard graft is a slang phrase

meaning hard work.

Once more our six minutes are up!

We hope you'll join us again soon for

more trending topics and

useful vocabulary here

at 6 Minute English.

But that's

goodbye for now!

Goodbye!