The 1999 film “Office Space” remains a cult classic. It’s one of my personal favorite comedies of all time, and it’s one of the most iconic movies about the experience of working in the tech industry. However, much of the angst that it so hilariously documents is a feature of much of white-collar work in general rather than software companies in specific.
What is it about Office Space still resonates over 15 years after its release? Computer-bound cubicle workers are still ubiquitous, but the inefficiencies of machinery may be less of an issue today – files don’t take as long to upload, and copiers are less of a nightmare, than they were in 1999. One wonders what would be different if Mike Judge had made the movie during this current decade of the 21st Century. Although there’s no available answer to that exact question, Mike Judge’s most recent tech-industry satire “Silicon Valley” has gotten rave reviews. It’s right on topic for this blog, so I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t seen it yet. When I do, it will be interesting to see if the focus of Judge’s satire has shifted.
It could be argued that in many ways “Office Space” is too harsh in the way it depicts white-collar work in general, and tech companies in particular. I’m confident major Silicon Valley technology companies are far less managerially inefficient and far less infantilizing to their employees than Initech is in the movie. Whatever you think of Google, based on everything I’ve heard, they’re a collection of very smart, very creative people. I assume Google workers aren’t spending much time on mindless minutiae like “TPS reports,” and I’m pretty sure Google generally treats its employees with far more dignity and respect than Initech treats Milton with.
“Office Space” also has an interesting and overly romantic perspective on blue-collar work. At the end of the movie, the protagonist leaves his software job and joins his blue-collar neighbor working at a construction site. There, the protagonist finally seems happy, saying, “This isn’t so bad, huh? Making bucks, getting exercise, working outside.” There is something insightful about the way the movie shows the relief the protagonist Peter experiences when he finally escapes the physical confines of the office for good.
Indeed, one of the most maddening parts of white-collar work is the physical inactivity and confinement, which in my own experience often left me anxious and restless, feeling weirdly exhausted (mentally and physically) at the end of a nine-hour day of doing little more than sitting at my computer. The growing ubiquity of computer-based sedentary work in the modern economy (whether in “high-skill” white-collar jobs like programming, or in relatively “low-skill” jobs like telemarketing) is probably a major contributor to the obesity epidemic and other public health crises.
However, manual labor is no picnic either. In law school, I know a very bright and hard-working guy who had spent some time earlier in his life laboring on construction sites. We discussed “Office Space,” and I asked him about what he thought about how the movie depicts construction work as cathartic physical exertion out in the pleasant sunshine. He said, “I don’t know. It’s really great to not be spending 8 hours away from air conditioning and easily-available bathrooms.”
I appreciated him putting things into perspective for any white-collar workers who think the grass is greener on the other side. Generally, the physical discomfort of blue-collar work is far worse than in white-collar work. The toll it takes can involve regular aches and pains, and there is always the looming risk of injury on the job, and of dealing with aggregated long-term physical damage later on in life. Blue-collar work can also be psychologically aggravating and demeaning if you don’t have any of the tradesman’s freedom to make decisions and to operate without a foreman constantly barking orders at you. Blue-collar work is often (but not always) more poorly-compensated in the modern American economy than white-collar professional work is, which probably causes many blue-collar workers to deal with the nagging mental pressures caused by financial insecurity.
Although the ending is a little Pollyannaish about construction work, “Office Space” remains a comedy classic because of the way it shows the more subtle mental strains of white-collar life. The film brilliantly captures the passive-aggressive ways that people express hostilities and manage frustrations in an office environment. On a construction site, I assume you can more freely scream out a string of curse words when something goes wrong, or yell at a co-worker who screwed you over, without Human Resources getting involved and without the company legal department being contacted. The office environment remains more civil and less volatile, but it can also be a simmering cauldron of low-level unresolved irritation.
“Office Space” resonates with people because it taps into common frustrations among cubicle workers, but as with all stereotyped depictions of a particular industry, there are many exceptions that don’t fit into its paradigm. Many offices have healthy cultures where management is not despotic and condescending, and where employees are relatively empowered. There are shelves full of business books about how to build an effective workplace culture that motivates workers to be productive, creative, satisfied, and loyal. While those books purport to teach entrepreneurs how to create a good office space, Mike Judge’s movie serves a related but different purpose, one with far more entertainment value. To anyone who would open up an office, it serves as a warning: “don’t let this be your environment.” To anyone who would work in an office, it also serves as a warning: “don’t let this become your life.”