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  • 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