I work for one of the largest IBs in the world and I’ve been in Finance Technology for the last ~15 years. My father worked in management, at banks, throughout my entire childhood. I’ve been exposed to office culture for the better part of 40 years.
Offices used to be beautiful. Inlaid wood, warm lighting, marble and other quality materials, plants, and so on. Even the more plain environments were still professional in nature. Still welcoming. But the last 3 I’ve worked in ( since 2014ish) have been super ugly and minimalist. Exposed ventilation. Piercing lighting. No color (desks, walls, ceilings are all white and antiseptic). Mismatched, abrasive furniture (if you could even call it furniture). Construction paper and marker all over the dry erase walls, which are everywhere. Just generally cold and depressing.
I remember when Google became the new, cool poster-company with their ping pong tables and post-modern meeting spaces, but do adults really prefer that their offices look like a warehouse & a kindergarten had a baby? I feel like the respect for the profession is completely gone. I won’t even get into how people dress… sneakers in the office, interns in hoodies, etc.
I fully accept that I could just be getting old and complain-y but am I alone? Or would anyone else like to see a return to the look & feel of the financial golden age?
I agree. I went through a phase of wearing Lululemon ABC pants and golf polos, but now there's just something nice about putting on a crisp white button-down shirt and lacing up the black cap toes. My bank is trying so hard to make the office more "collaborative" (i.e., squishing all the desks super close together).
Yeah, that's another point I didn't mention. The shift toward total open-floor. I understand why they do it, but it doesn't make it ok. Zero privacy for 9+ hours straight. Zero sense of personal space. It's like they're trying to make offices as repulsive as possible to the average worker.
I used to watch tiktok lives of hot college chicks and football. Now at a HF where my sector head sits right next to me. I miss those days. Typing this from the bathroom
When I was in PE back in the day we had a tie requirement and 5 days a week in office policy (really like 6). Now I wear lulus and a sweater, WFH friday and after 6pm, less work travel, and no mandatory happy hours. My life now no longer revolves around the office, and i'd rather spend time with real friends and GF than my coworkers. I'll admit, the old finance culture is nostalgic, but gets old real fast when you got more to live for besides the office.
I agree, but it isnt even just offices. The amount of apartments or homes I see on zillow that are just straight white on the inside and out. Most new built houses are homes are like hospitals I think people are starting to revert to the more traditional American architecture though. Also the white LEDs suck.
The LEDs totally suck. To your point about residential real estate, I really hope so. I'd love to see 80s Contemporary make a comeback. Give me asymmetrical pine facades and glass blocks all day long.
I've always been a fan of the rustic, almost log-cabin look. I've always wanted a log cabin with a big fireplace.
Haha, right? I feel like some of those 80s designs had way more character. If you could pick one feature to bring back, what would it be?
New homes are always going to come standard with white walls and bland kitchens, personality comes once you buy it and repaint/remodel when the time comes.
As a developer, you want as generic as possible to appeal to the most people. If you go bold, maybe 30% strongly loves it but maybe 50% strongly hate it and the rest are unphased, if you go boring you won't get anyone who strongly loves it but you aren't getting 50% who hate it either.
I would happily work out of a Starbucks for a bigger bonus
Same. I think y'all underestimate cost of office space. Elimination of a cost means either 1. bigger bonus or 2. more money returned to shareholders, which are both things I would prefer since a significant portion of my comp comes from stock
I want to start a firm that has a 70s country club vibe, wood paneling and plush carpet and drapes in the office with busty secretaries. Would this be a place you all would like to work?
Only if the bonuses and the cocaine purity match the 70s as well.
Would join as long as the busty secretaries are women
Can't cite any specific evidence, but here are my two cents: after the GFC, public opinion towards Wall Street was incredibly negative and the image of Gordon Gekko and contrast collars of the 80's signified the greed that caused the GFC in the first place(at least in the public's opinion). Also with the rise of tech bros, banks feel like they had to adjust and accommodate them in order to lure them away from the FAANG's, so they made things more "collaborative" and "open minded", which included the dress code.
No not really. It was covid that changed everything. Pre covid everyone still had to wear ties and sat in cubicles.
You should have seen 85 Broad St for GS back in the day. We had mice coming out of the IT conduits, regularly. The conf rooms were fine, but that building was garbage.
Would still rather work there, no questions asked. That building is so nice looking, at least from the outside. I love it.
Haven't stepped inside in 20 years, but it was pretty bad back when I was there. Fraying carpets, non-functioning bathrooms, the mice, etc. There was some nice art, and as I said above the conf rooms were decent.
Analysts quit tipping their MDs…
We stopped caring as a society. Look at the beauty and intricate details of older architecture and then go look at these new glass boxes with white LED lighting and white walls. I agree it's a shame.
I've personally started dressing a little nicer now that I'm back in office 5 days a week. I would prefer just 2-3 days in office but it's not up to me...yet.
Looking nice is certainly a confidence booster, and now I can actually afford made-to-measure. I was never around for the suit & tie every day times, but I can't imagine that is something to be missed. Every time I have to wear a suit I can't wait to take it off. Especially the tie. Feels like being constantly choked by a weak person.
Why in the fucking world would a bank or financial institution spend a ton of good money on totally useless shit like office decor? That money should be ploughed back into dividends for shareholders or investors!
I would rather my company have a minimalist office and pay me more. Am aware of a few family owned businesses like this and they have great retentio nof employees.
Honestly, not the worst. If the dear head was real taxidermy I would approve.
One of my first corporate jobs was for a Japanese bank in the 1980's. Our offices were at the World Trade Center and it was very Mad Men, in a number of ways, in that we sat in rows of desks, no cubicles. The most senior folks flanked us, with their backs to the windows. Hardly any actual offices with actual doors. And everyone had an ashtray on their desk, even if they didn't smoke. Easily 75% of the male Japanese staff smoked.
I've since worked mostly at places where you had a cubicle of some sort. Color schemes over the decades everywhere I've worked have always more often than not leaned heavily into Steelcase Beige [Steelcase being the preeminent brand of filing cabinet] along with industrial-bright overhead lighting.
Neutral walls, neutral carpet, at virtually every one of investment bank, hedge fund, law firm gigs or even today at my current job.
The wall artwork, when there was/is any, could/can be interesting from time to time, but feels more like an afterthought of "too much white wall, let's add pops of color."
While I go into the office from time to time, having 3 large monitors vs 2 at home is easier on my eyes, I have to say when WFH, not only do I save time and money, I'm surrounded by the colors and belongings that make me happy.
That stuff costs money and shareholders eat first brother
In the US at least, our society has no respect for beauty anymore. I think it's partly due to rich people having horrible taste as they are the ones historically who drove major construction projects and set the gold standard. Anyone selling a product, whether it's a small simple thing or a building, will make it as cheaply as market demand will allow. We see luxury brands making clothing out of polyester and charging thousands, because the wealthy nowadays are dumb enough to buy the items just to flash a logo. If no one purchased these horribly made, ugly things, the creators would have to improve them or go out of business. People were fooled into believing a glass box is "luxury" and it was the greatest marketing scheme of all time after the De Beers diamonds thing.
The decline of beautiful residential architecture is more painful imo than that of offices, although it is still sad to know we will never have intricate, art deco style office buildings again. All I want in an house are some moldings, thoughtful built-ins and a little wood paneling... don't think it's too much to ask but here we are.
Dude I’m 1,000 percent with you. It’s depressing. The building I currently work in is a gorgeous art deco behemoth with an absolutley stunning green marble lobby from the early 90s. Then I arrive on my floor (or any of the other floors leased by my bank) and it’s like entering an econobox Orwellian hellscape.
If you don't understand the history of architecture that's ok, but don't go around claiming it was a marketing scheme. No one is going to build a deco building again, brick is way too expensive, stone details are way too expensive, the artisans who make all of those details aren't around anymore.
And adding some crown molding and wainscotting is very easily done, it just costs money. It sucks, but that's the reality, and you know what? It has been forever. Your average house built in 1850 or 1900 or 1950 didn't have any of the fancy architectural flourishes we think of when we think of nice examples from that era. They were basic dwellings that have mostly been destroyed and replaced by now, don't fall for survivorship bias. No one is stopping you from commissioning an architect to build a beautiful house to whatever historic beauty standards you may have, it just takes money.
I don't want to detract too much from your point because I generally agree, but it is very difficult to find suppliers/labor to execute some esoteric designs. Money can't buy everything.
I noticed this shift too. Offices used to feel warm and like a space for actual adults. Now everything is white, glass, and exposed pipes. Not useless, but it doesn’t feel professional anymore.
People would rather continue work at home than in the office. Would you rather have a cozy office or more free time at home? Easiest choice if you ask me
I have visited lots of offices and law firms have the best, plushy design). But everyone knows they work relentlessly and for extremely long hours
My office is incredibly nice for the client centric areas. Marble, high end wood conference tables, chef staff for catering in house, Voss water, etc.
bullpen has almost no natural light, decades old carpets, poor layout, etc
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