Office Space

Technically this is a lateral move from Chicago to Shanghai. My career grade stays the same (the ever popular “F”), benefits are comparable or a little better, etc. However, in terms of office space – Shanghai wins hands down. The Health and Benefits team moved into new office space on the 31st floor of their building over the summer while I was back in the States. It is a beautiful office.

I have…drum roll please…a window office with three live plants in it! Everything is new and clean, right down to the Mercer blue pencil cup and stapler. There are two visitor chairs, a large work surface and a filing cabinet included, although the paper storage provided is definitely less than Chicago. The bathrooms are lovely (a great improvement over Kaien). My keycard has been activated. I received my new computer and allowed 10 months of emails to load, which took 3 hours. I think I’m working at Mercer Shanghai.

Office hours are slightly different here – technically they’re from 9 to 5:30, but I think more realistically from 9:30 to 6 or 10 to 6:30. The office space is very quiet, the cubes are open style and so four people are working in each corner with their backs to the middle. The cube walls are lower – there is no overhead storage space which gives a different atmosphere, more hushed.

My boss is in the States right now on business, so I have a week to scope things out, get settled in and then I have a week off because of the Chinese holidays next week. It’s a good way to acclimate myself to the environment, take care of those endless details when you start somewhere new and remind myself what office hours mean.

The attached slide show shows you my office.

Office Space

Question – What has been your worst working environment? Why?
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