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!