While our department moved to MetroTech on October 6th, I've been so sick that Monday was my first day back at work, but at our old building. Since I'm a sector specialist I'm going to be spending 3 days per week on the banker floor in Midtown, and 2 days down at MetroTech. Today was my first day experiencing the new office.
The longer commute doesn't bother me (except that we're so busy I put in overtime Monday and today which sucks time away that I don't get paid for), and luckily I can stay on one train the whole way with only a little more walking once I arrive in Brooklyn. It's about an hour door to door, whereas it's 1/2 an hour to the old building. What jarred me the most was our MetroTech building. Holy god, have they not done a decor review since the 1970's or 80's (although I know it was built in the early 90's, you would never guess it)!?
Do you remember early MTV? Max Headroom and the multitude of TVs of different sizes showing random images? Yeah, that's part of one wall of the lobby. Neon? Yup, got that. Ok, weird, but I find my new floor. I'd been warned ahead of time that the carpet is some hideous shade of green, but wow.
You know the color of that fake green grass that people put in their gardens or patios? Imagine an industrial carpet covering an entire floor of a large office building almost that exact color. There's sort of a 90's curviness in the desk rows, and green accents here and there, but it's not enough to counteract the distracting hue of the carpet. It's intriguing that something so glaringly garish hasn't been remodeled in who knows how long, but that's back office work - utilitarian and cheap since the bankers' clients don't ever walk in the door here.
Work for me, however, is more about the bankers' needs and the incredible backlog we're running instead of the decor. I find it rather hilarious to see the utter disgust of my colleagues at every small thing you can pick apart about desk space, chairs, small pantry, and the ignominy of being banished to Brooklyn when we're barely treading water in terms of satisfying our primary clients. As for me? I can deal with this. This is merely a bump in the road.
Of course this is temporary; in 6 or so months they're moving us to another floor with less desk space since we apparently don't deserve cubicles or even semi-curved desks. Curves take up more valuable office space! Ok, being honest, our (basically) demotion does piss me off; I just subdue it, but I'm not going to throw a tantrum over it. Nonetheless, I'm not totally bummed about the change. It might be nice to eat lunch in a park instead of the bustle of midtown where there's no place to comfortably sit and eat or relax outside. Even the attitude of the current inhabitants of MetroTech is about 1/3 the intensity of the bankers' panic and stressed out fire drills. I left today at 7:30 and we were the only department still working on our floor (and possibly the building). This is literally a 9-5 building, it seems.
If I were to be really honest, I'd rather not go back to the banker floor and would gladly spend the whole week at MetroTech. Do I have a longer commute to a somewhat hideous building, along with some other adjustments? Yes. But on the banker floor there's always a tense vibe that is almost palpable. I've never managed to find a way to ameliorate their stress, and I work with the uncertainty of the analysts, the quiet drive of the associates, and the pride resulting from that one elephant deal or making their promotion. I'm far from the only influence, but I provide the search expertise and information that I trained for in grad school as well as the knowledge I've gained over 8 years in the industry to find out-of-the-box solutions. Yet I feel that there's tension laid on my shoulders, figuratively and literally (since my shoulder and neck muscles are in danger of seizing up sometimes when I get stressed). Decor? Not even on my radar when I'm in the banker building.
Unfortunately, I don't have a choice. Moving us out of Manhattan officially makes us back office staff, and to justify our jobs we have to be with the bankers as much as possible. Although I've tried to find one, I don't have a backup to take a cover my desk for a day or two off and pass the burden of physically dealing with the pressure cooker that can be the bullpen. It's my first week doing this split schedule and in the end I may love it, but for now it's a little overwhelming, especially considering the incredible volume of requests landing in queue. I'm hoping I will enjoy the very different experiences of Midtown and MetroTech, but for now, I'll congratulate myself on my first full week back since being sick and just try to adjust to the new paradigm. As they (and I) say; it is what it is.
The longer commute doesn't bother me (except that we're so busy I put in overtime Monday and today which sucks time away that I don't get paid for), and luckily I can stay on one train the whole way with only a little more walking once I arrive in Brooklyn. It's about an hour door to door, whereas it's 1/2 an hour to the old building. What jarred me the most was our MetroTech building. Holy god, have they not done a decor review since the 1970's or 80's (although I know it was built in the early 90's, you would never guess it)!?
Do you remember early MTV? Max Headroom and the multitude of TVs of different sizes showing random images? Yeah, that's part of one wall of the lobby. Neon? Yup, got that. Ok, weird, but I find my new floor. I'd been warned ahead of time that the carpet is some hideous shade of green, but wow.
You know the color of that fake green grass that people put in their gardens or patios? Imagine an industrial carpet covering an entire floor of a large office building almost that exact color. There's sort of a 90's curviness in the desk rows, and green accents here and there, but it's not enough to counteract the distracting hue of the carpet. It's intriguing that something so glaringly garish hasn't been remodeled in who knows how long, but that's back office work - utilitarian and cheap since the bankers' clients don't ever walk in the door here.
Work for me, however, is more about the bankers' needs and the incredible backlog we're running instead of the decor. I find it rather hilarious to see the utter disgust of my colleagues at every small thing you can pick apart about desk space, chairs, small pantry, and the ignominy of being banished to Brooklyn when we're barely treading water in terms of satisfying our primary clients. As for me? I can deal with this. This is merely a bump in the road.
Of course this is temporary; in 6 or so months they're moving us to another floor with less desk space since we apparently don't deserve cubicles or even semi-curved desks. Curves take up more valuable office space! Ok, being honest, our (basically) demotion does piss me off; I just subdue it, but I'm not going to throw a tantrum over it. Nonetheless, I'm not totally bummed about the change. It might be nice to eat lunch in a park instead of the bustle of midtown where there's no place to comfortably sit and eat or relax outside. Even the attitude of the current inhabitants of MetroTech is about 1/3 the intensity of the bankers' panic and stressed out fire drills. I left today at 7:30 and we were the only department still working on our floor (and possibly the building). This is literally a 9-5 building, it seems.
If I were to be really honest, I'd rather not go back to the banker floor and would gladly spend the whole week at MetroTech. Do I have a longer commute to a somewhat hideous building, along with some other adjustments? Yes. But on the banker floor there's always a tense vibe that is almost palpable. I've never managed to find a way to ameliorate their stress, and I work with the uncertainty of the analysts, the quiet drive of the associates, and the pride resulting from that one elephant deal or making their promotion. I'm far from the only influence, but I provide the search expertise and information that I trained for in grad school as well as the knowledge I've gained over 8 years in the industry to find out-of-the-box solutions. Yet I feel that there's tension laid on my shoulders, figuratively and literally (since my shoulder and neck muscles are in danger of seizing up sometimes when I get stressed). Decor? Not even on my radar when I'm in the banker building.
Unfortunately, I don't have a choice. Moving us out of Manhattan officially makes us back office staff, and to justify our jobs we have to be with the bankers as much as possible. Although I've tried to find one, I don't have a backup to take a cover my desk for a day or two off and pass the burden of physically dealing with the pressure cooker that can be the bullpen. It's my first week doing this split schedule and in the end I may love it, but for now it's a little overwhelming, especially considering the incredible volume of requests landing in queue. I'm hoping I will enjoy the very different experiences of Midtown and MetroTech, but for now, I'll congratulate myself on my first full week back since being sick and just try to adjust to the new paradigm. As they (and I) say; it is what it is.
posted by AnonymousX at 10:50 PM
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