Article created by: Kotryna Br
Sometimes, when watching an old show or a period piece, you get a glimpse of what offices were truly like in the past. Cigarette smoke, strict dress codes, and not a single computer in sight, for example.
Someone wanted to hear from netizens “who are 50+ years old, what has changed the most about working when you started working vs working nowadays?” Older folks shared their best examples. So prepare for a blast from the past, get comfortable as you scroll through, be sure to upvote your favorite examples, and share your own if you have any. We also got in touch with LightningStrikes818 to learn more.
I've been working in healthcare for 33+ years. At the beginning (late 80s/early 90s), everything was patient centered. Now it's payment centered.
The people at the top earned a great salary and everyone else a good salary.
Now the people at the top subscribe to the pirate life, take everything, give nothing back.
In the early 90’s I could get by on minimum wage full time. Now it would not be possible
I watched office work go from sedentary to virtually immobile. We used to retrieve paper files, pass memos around, consult with coworkers in other sections and floors. Now everything is available on the screen in front of us, everything can be shared with a few clicks. It’s convenient, but so unhealthy.
Benefits.
I used to get 20 vacation days and 10/12 sick days. Now I get 20 PTO days. So, that’s a one-third reduction in benefits.
I always purchase the best health insurance my employer offers, now the best is garbage. Twenty years ago, I was hospitalized, tons of tests and specialists, private room, final bill: $0. My kid was born five weeks premature, spent four weeks in NICU, final bill: $0. Now, if I go to the doctor, every single thing costs extra.
All the benefits have been dramatically reduced, but profits skyrocket.
Skirts/dresses and pantyhose required of women in many offices through 1990’s.
Doctor. Less likely to be literally worked to death due to so called “safe hour” rules where 23 and 26 hour shifts without sleep are now banned. Officially anyway. Also the newer residents are pushing back against unpaid overtime and taking hospital management to court and winning for unpaid wages.
For myself, it was a culture of fear. Sexist bosses who would harass female employees constantly. They didn't have to be male either. I had a female boss that would measure your skirt length by having you kneel on the floor, and would measure your hem with a ruler. More than two inches? Clock out, go home and change and then come back. Rinse and repeat. Many male managers took pride in being able to make women cry. There was public embarrassment if you made a mistake. Feeling like your job was in jeopardy at all times.
Surprisingly, I don't miss it.
Having to go to the bank to cash my paycheck
Hardly anybody has a pension anymore.
Sending a memo meant typing something, sometimes on an actual typewriter. Physically passing said document to the people in the “to” line. They would sign their initials signifying they read it. Then pass on to the next.
I remember people used to smoke cigarettes in their office.
Maternity and paternity leave are new (US). When I started working it was still common to fire women who were expecting. Or require them to take very little leave. Women used to brag about taking only a few days off.
Today the young men where I work get months off as paternity leave when their spouses have a baby.
My first health insurance was Blue Cross, top level. Cost me nothing monthly and I had $5 copays.
Gifts from vendors were a thing. I used to get things like free bottles of booze from enterprise software companies we licensed from. That dried up years ago.
People used to answer their business phones.
Men had to wear suit/tie to work every day and women had to wear what our company defined as 'interview attire' (professional dress/pantsuit). I remember when our first 'jeans Friday' was implemented, our manager wore jeans to support the effort, but they were ironed with a crease down the middle - hilarious. Now, for the same role at the same company, people work remote and wear sweats or whatever the hell they want.
