What is office life like in the United States?

Let’s spend a day at the office in the United States

Lesson summary

Hi there everyone, I’m Jeff and you are listening to Plain English. Here at Plain English, we use stories to help you upgrade your English. Our stories help you think in English—and by listening, you’ll also learn how to express your best ideas in your new language.

Today’s story is all about office culture in the United States. What’s a typical office workday like? What do people wear? What time do they arrive in the morning? We’ll talk about all that today. And in the second half of the lesson, before we wrap up, I’ll show you exactly how to use the phrasal verb “wrap up.”

JR is the producer of Plain English. He has decided that today’s episode number is 704. And so he has uploaded the full content to PlainEnglish.com/704. That’s where you’ll find the transcripts, translations, quizzes, and exercises. PlainEnglish.com/704.

Office culture in the United States

If you’ve seen the American version of the television series “The Office ,” you might wonder how the United States ever became an economic superpower . Do American workers really spend all their time planning parties , playing pranks , and pursuing office romances?

Thankfully , the answer is no. In this story, you’ll learn about what office culture really is like in the United States—and no, it’s not really like what you see on “Suits” or “Succession ” either. Before we start, you should know that this story is about broad generalities . Every industry is different; every company is different. I’ll tell you about the average experience of an office worker in a private business .

Let’s start with how people get there. The overwhelming majority of workers drive alone in their cars to work. In big cities with established public transit , many workers do take the subway or commuter trains . A handful take a bus, and only a small percentage carpool . A lot of offices in the suburbs or smaller cities offer free parking. But commuters to big city centers usually have to pay by the month for their own parking.

Now, the schedule. Most businesses have general guidelines about the workday ; the most common workday is 8:30 in the morning to 5:30 in afternoon. But most office workers have some freedom of schedule . They don’t have to be there at 8:30 on the dot . In most places, 7:30 is considered early; 9:30 is considered late. Most offices have one or two early birds that arrive at 7:00 or before, but the office really starts to fill up between 8 and 9.

That’s the beginning of the workday. What about the end? The end is much more fluid . 5:30 is about when many people wrap up their office workday. A lot depends on how busy they are, what time they started work, and how much they got done during the day.

But many people work later than 5:30. In some businesses , the employee handbook might say that the workday ends at 5:30, but the culture and expectation is for people to work later than that.

A standard workweek is 40 hours. But this is not a limit or a government policy . Americans work an average of 45 hours per week. About 40 percent of full-time workers put in 50 hours per week, while 18 percent put in 60 hours or more per week.

Individuals often decide the specific amount of time they work. Certainly the culture in a company or an industry affects working hours. But this is also about the work culture and how people get ahead .

Individuals are often rewarded for their own specific performance . So those who are motivated to advance in the company or to make more money: they work more hours. In many companies, it is absolutely true that some people work harder or longer than others, even if they are at the same level and even if they have the same job description .

With remote work now, many people leave the office early—4:30, 5:00, let’s say—and then they connect again later in the evening. This allows people to pick up kids, have a family dinner, and get kids to bed. But it’s very, very common for people to connect for an hour or two, sometimes more, at night.

American office workers send emails after hours. Even if they’re not sitting at a computer, many workers check their phones and respond to emails— honestly , up until their bedtime and often as soon as they wake up . Not everyone does this, but it is common.

People feel pressure to stand out individually and to get a lot done during their workday. So it won’t surprise you that long lunches are not part of the work culture . About half of workers eat lunch alone at their desks . An hourlong lunch break is considered long, unless the lunch is also combined with a meeting.

Office workers have the freedom to take small breaks during the day—nobody is watching or counting . It’s very common for coworkers to socialize a little bit during the workday or to escape for coffee together in the afternoon. But this isn’t formal and not everyone takes a break at the same time; people grab a few minutes when they can (if they can).

After-work social activities really depend on the specific office. Every office is different. But it’s common for coworkers—either the whole office or smaller groups of colleagues—to go out for drinks after work. This is less common if most people have long commutes and kids at home; it’s more common in younger offices in city centers.

Communication at the office is professional, but not formal. Almost anyone who works together on the same team calls each other by their first names. I can count on one hand the number of times I addressed someone as “Mr.” or “Ms.” I would call CEO’s and CFO’s of companies by their first names —that is what is expected .

Unlike in some cultures, age isn’t automatically rewarded with respect and deference . In most American office cultures, people advance and get promoted for their accomplishments . It’s often true that the older you get, and the more experience you have, the higher you advance.

But it doesn’t always work that way. Many people have bosses, supervisors , who are younger than they are. That can be uncomfortable at first, but sometimes that’s just how it works.

Dress expectations have changed recently. A very few industries still expect workers to be in formal dress every day—that’s a suit and tie for men. But these are the exception.

There’s a term in English called “business casual.” That means dress pants , a shirt with a collar, maybe a sport coat , and formal shoes —no sneakers . “Business casual” is the most common way of dressing in the office.

But many offices have now relaxed their dress expectations. This is good because it allows workers to be more comfortable and more creative , more individualistic with their wardrobes . But make no mistake : people are still judged on their appearance . You still do have to look good, even if you’re not in the standard business casual uniform.

Jeff’s take

I’ve been watching “Suits” lately on Netflix. And now I know what it must feel like for a doctor to watch a hospital drama like “ER” or “Grey’s Anatomy.” Or for a police officer to watch “Law and Order.” The idea, on Suits, of what business is like—it’s just so far from reality .

They do get some things right on “Suits.” But the way they depict work on there. It just makes you cringe . But you know. Any show that accurately depicts someone’s job is not a show anyone else would want to watch.