Are offices becoming more inpersonal?

[Chubroach]

It use to be that "the office" was the place to make friends and get the latest gossip. Not any more I fear! It seems like since the Internet came on the scene, people spend their down time at work on-line and ignore most of their co-workers.

For example, I work in a office of about 50 people and I swear that most of my co-workers don't know the names or anything else about most of the people they share the same space with day after day. They just talk to the same three to four people a day and ignore the rest. It is a little like people not knowing their next door neighbors.

Do you agree, or is it just the three places I have worked where I have worked the last five years (since the INTERNET)?

 

[Blondie]

I see you're new here Chubroach, welcome to the DIS.

How'd you go about choosing your screen name?

 

[Planogirl]

I think that offices are a bit more impersonal since everyone is tied to their PC now. It used to be that you had to deal more with coworkers to get info and to get things done but now you just access files and do your own processing and so on. So I agree up to a point.

But I find that if I stay somewhere long enough, the office grapevine still opens up. It just takes a bit longer.

By the way, welcome to the DIS.

 

[Micca]

Welcome to the Dis Chubroach. Could it be the nature of the business you're in? Is there high turnover?

 

[Chubroach]

I have worked mostly for small technology companies during the last 10 years.

I see people that sit as close as 5-10 feewt from each other, never say a word to each other for weeks at a time. We have a few data entry clerks in our office that go the entire day every day for weeks at an end without saying a word to anyone. They just type!

 

[Kimberle]

Most offices have had RIF's (fancy for layoffs) so everyone is working their fingers to the bone.

Technology in general, keeps people at their desks. Email, voice mail, instant message, net meetings, etc.

You also have to be very careful what you say to whom. Someone might overhear & slap a "harrisment" type lawsuit on you......