[Old video cassette recording comes to life, showing a modern office interior and smiling employees.] Ah, office life. It’s peaceful. It’s pure bliss. And it’s so amazing that -- [laughs out loud] I’m sorry, I tried to get through this without laughing, but I just couldn’t! Office life is a hoot and so full of drama, gossip, and weirdness, you can’t turn a corner without bumping into this fearsome threesome while you're on your way back home to rest up for tomorrow's workday.
To show you just how hilarious (and soul-crushingly sad) things can get, the Bored Panda team (ironically, working from home because of the Pandemic Apocalypse raging outside) has collected some of the very best memes about office life. You’re bound to relate to them if you’ve ever spent any time working at an open-plan desk or in a cubicle or stood next to the watercooler, awkwardly sipping from one of those tiny styrofoam cups.
Be sure to upvote your fave office memes and drop us a comment or two about the hilarious, weird, and hilariously weird things that go on in your office, dear Pandas? And read on to learn about the more lighthearted, as well as the more serious issues of office life.
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I’ve had the absolute pleasure of writing about office life extensively here at Bored Panda. In fact, it sometimes feels like there isn’t an office-related topic that I haven’t touched on (maybe with the exception of outdoor offices, but we’ll get there!). One of the things that can get office employees riled up is the temperature in shared spaces.
For instance, did you know that research has shown that men and women perform math and verbal tasks differently depending on how cold or hot it is? In general, if you make it warmer, women have been shown to perform these tasks better, though men’s performance drops slightly. So if you want to increase the general productivity at a gender-equal office, it’s best to err on the side of too warm rather than too cold. (As someone who’s constantly cold, I wholeheartedly support this research.)
However, far from everything is all about having fun, gossiping, and dealing with drama. Working at the office can be a real challenge because of inequality and sexism.
Elizabeth Arif-Fear, writer and founder of ‘Voice of Salam,’ is a human rights advocate and explained to Bored Panda that real gender equality at the workplace can only be achieved if “men in positions of leadership are willing to recognize their privilege and ensure open positions for people based on merit and if wider society continues to tackle gender-based stereotypes based on certain professions being ‘male’ or ‘female.’”
According to Arif-Fear, Western society is beginning to have healthier conversations about inappropriate behavior at the office, too. However, she believes that there’s still a long way to go, as some men are, in her opinion, reacting uncomfortably to the changes.
“Things vary between sectors/professions and location, I think we're making progress regarding gender-based stereotypes, but with the continuing gender pay gap, there's a long way to go and I don't imagine major changes over the next five years. Changes, yes, but there'll still be some work to be done,” the expert said.
Arif-Fear also pointed out that, for instance in the UK, 1 in 2 women have experienced inappropriate behavior in the workplace, ranging from sexual advances to inappropriate jokes. She also revealed that she and her female colleagues were subjected to sexist comments at a conference not too long ago.
Getting along with your coworkers, managers, and bosses requires a willingness to find compromises. In short, it's about balancing between the needs of the company and your own goals, finances, and workload. So a level head and a penchant for negotiations are always valuable.
I love it when as a kid you think that if you earn 1000 EUR per month you'll have 12000 EUR at the end of the year...
Of course, disagreements and miscommunication are something that happens all the time. It's not something that can ever magically go away. And while some arguments are friendly and can be shrugged with a good laugh and a cup of coffee, others can get a bit too personal because they affect employees in very direct ways.
That's why it's important to invest in a capable HR department, so they can mediate any disagreements and ensure high employee morale, no matter the corporate challenges. And there will plenty of those... right alongside hilarious and meme-worthy office life moments!
Well, just consider how much practice had to be done, and how many calculations had to be made, to perfect this. So, being able to do this trick would, in itself, be a qualifier for any job—-thinking through a problem, making calculations, developing new skills, and practicing until you’ve got it right.
"Yes, I am highly skilled in teapot-blowing": *Proceeds to blow tea from teapot into a teacup and hand it to the boss*
These things really are making me laugh out loud! Good thing I’m not in LR. News is on, I sit in tv/guest/kid/my room. Don’t wanna listen to news these days. Grinch does dishes on school nites and I do them on weekends. I watch local news in the am and again at noon. Mainly for the weather.
It is... funny. There is nothing more to say, this picture just makes one laugh.
Which office life meme was your favorite one? Is life anything like ‘The Office’ at your office, dear Pandas? Are there any major issues going on at work right now? How well do you get along with your managers and coworkers? Do you miss working from the office instead of working from home? Share your thoughts with all of us below!
Pretty much! There’s a limit to how much control an adult should give another adult, boss or not.
Except they would not answer understandable, they would say "report to HR monday"
It’s always lies! Maybe they just want to see if you can tell a normal lie.
'so what is the timeline? Thats a great theory, so what is an approximate timeline? When would you like to start this? In an ideal scenario when would you start this process? Do you know when tomorrow is?'
I just refuse to ever go through this again. I could never work for someone else at this point. It’s fuçked up how much you have to beg to work for someone else even when THEY are the ones who need an employee.
My face when someone walks in my office after two hours of nobody coming in so i figure it's ok to let fluffy off the leash. Aka answer the call of the wild burrito. Fart.
I always wondered that too but I think those people have family help or live in LCOL areas.
And that one friend judgingly saying "Why are you so fat and unhealty?!" Yep...
I mean, you can ask me questions, but unless I've had two cups of coffee, I'm probably just going to stare at you.
My job is like the song "Hotel California" I can check out anytime I like, but I can never leave.
When my boss says" I'm going to lunch, call me if the building starts on fire"
Nothing more annoying than everyone complaining about 'putting out fires' and you're thinking 'with a little forethought you could quit setting the d**n fires so you don't have to put them out'.
Or like when i txt my friend I’m like dammit that sounded a little too clingy
'Allow me to elaborate on the theme of my previous email and attachment. If there is no data provided there are no answers forthcoming. Data is gathered by your direct reports.' Could you please just send me the f'ing numbers so I can make the reports you want?
I don’t get that either but I hate those “coffee is my personality / don’t talk to me without coffee” people. It’s so unoriginal / fake. I drink iced coffee every morning but you’ll never hear me worry about why someone else doesn’t, and never hear me shut someone down just because I didn’t have some special drink.
I saved up a little money and then literally lived in squalor (like very little food, no heat, no internet, lived in a badly damaged house etc) for like a year so I wouldn’t have to work and I could get my own thing going. It was 1000% worth it to get out of the rat race and stop having to BEG to make a pathetic $20 an hour. I wish everyone could do the same but it isn’t possible. That’s why we need a higher minimum wage.
It's worse if they ask "do you belong here?". I had that a few times, and honestly.... no I fkin don't, I'm not the carpet or a piece of furniture, but what's your dumbass problem anyway
In the mirror reflection shes literally watching a youtube video
I love this show! "The Most Popular Girls in School" on YT, for those interested. Definitely not SFW.
They love using Rosemarie’s face as a meme. She really isn’t as mean as she looks. She’s making these faces as a response to some jerk being super critical of her and having unrealistic expectations.
That’s Ed, the guy who Rosemarie up there is making all those mean faces at.
Matt Perry had addiction issues, and there’s like 20 years between those pics. Let’s not do him dirty.
Manager: do you know how to multitask? Me: Do you know how to multipay?
It was discovered years ago that “multitasking” is a myth. Even if something is automated, you still have to concentrate on it to start it before moving on to something else while it’s running. You cannot give 100% of your attention and concentration to more than one thing at a time, so the concept of “multitasking” is, more accurately, merely dividing up your attention. Think of it this way: If you’re trying to do 5 tasks at once, you’re only giving each of them a portion of that 100%, as no one can give 5 simultaneous tasks 100% each—-or 500% of our attention—-because human beings are not computers.
Load More Replies...
People always tend to forget how miserable they were, because they (logically) can only focus on their current misery, and they embelish their memories... I'm sure some people think college was not even worse.
Manager: do you know how to multitask? Me: Do you know how to multipay?
It was discovered years ago that “multitasking” is a myth. Even if something is automated, you still have to concentrate on it to start it before moving on to something else while it’s running. You cannot give 100% of your attention and concentration to more than one thing at a time, so the concept of “multitasking” is, more accurately, merely dividing up your attention. Think of it this way: If you’re trying to do 5 tasks at once, you’re only giving each of them a portion of that 100%, as no one can give 5 simultaneous tasks 100% each—-or 500% of our attention—-because human beings are not computers.
Load More Replies... People always tend to forget how miserable they were, because they (logically) can only focus on their current misery, and they embelish their memories... I'm sure some people think college was not even worse.
