The boss (played by Steve Carell) takes a beating in the hit television show The Office. If the workplace is your second home, avoid such scenes at all costs!

Can you recall every word of every memo that is printed on the soft board in your office cabin, but can’t seem to remember the colour of the curtains in your bedroom? Do you invariably remember the birthday of your colleague in the next cubicle every single year without fail, but forgot to wish your sister on her birthday last week? Do you have to look up the phone numbers of your relatives every time you call them, but can always remember those of your co-workers?

No, it’s not time to get an appointment with your doctor. Or maybe it is, though it’s not a problem peculiar to you. You are a part of the whole new gang of professionals for whom the workplace has evolved into a “second home” — a place where one spends the major part of one’s waking hours and where colleagues assume the status of “friends”.

For some, workplace is home.

Bye Bye 10-to-6

Gone are the days when office meant walking in at 10 in the morning and leaving at the stroke of 6. Work pressure, tight deadlines and cut-throat competition have made it imperative for the new-age career person to spend longer hours at the workplace than ever before. On certain high-pressure days of the month, many go back home for just a bath and a change of clothes. And we are just not talking about call centres here.

Shikha Tiwari, 26, doesn’t remember when she last spent time with her parents at home, for her day starts and ends at the workplace. “I get to work by about 10am and on days I can somehow manage to get off by 10pm, I consider myself very lucky, but those are few and far between. I know about almost everything that goes on in office, but ask me about home and chances are that I will draw a complete blank,” admits the advertising professional.

Public relations professional Sayantan Das Adhikari spends more than 10 hours at work every day. “My parents often complain that my office is my first home,” smiles Sayantan.

For some, time spent at the workplace is more than welcome. Manish Kanjilal, a senior executive with a multinational company, spends almost all his waking hours at office, which sometimes extends to days together ahead of an important meeting or presentation. But Manish doesn’t seem to mind. “I have been working in this office for the past seven years and have developed a special bond not just with my colleagues, but with my workplace and even my cubicle. The long hours that I spend here has cemented the relationship further,” says Manish.

Friends, Not Colleagues

Pink is the new black. And colleagues are the new friends. For most new-age professionals. With time spent at the workplace on the rise, it is the person sitting next to you in office who invariably ends up being your closest friend, your confidante and most often the sounding-board for your problems. Coping with the same situations and pressures at work (a tough boss, in the case of many), also goes a long way towards forging a strong bond between co-workers.

“I am close to quite a few people at work. Most often, I share things with them which I would not even share with my mother, whom I am otherwise very close to,” says Prashant Srivastava, senior general manager at Ambuja Realty Development Limited.

A growing closeness with colleagues has also given rise to socialising with them outside the workplace. “I catch a movie or go partying with my colleagues very often. Given that we spend so many hours at work together, I have developed a comfort level with them. This is something that I do not feel any longer in the company of my college friends, whom I anyway get to meet very rarely,” confesses event manager Priya Kapoor (name changed on request).

Mumbai-based hotelier Vivek Avari relies on the company of his colleagues after work to make up for the absence of family and friends, who live in a different city. “It is office colleagues who come to the rescue of people like me who are new to a city,” says Vivek.

And for some like copywriter Shalini Ganguli, going out with colleagues is as much fun as working with them in office is. “My co-workers are a pretty fun-loving bunch and we end up having a great time together whenever we go out,” smiles Shalini.

Bed-and-Breakfast

Aware of the new attachment to the workplace, many companies are now going that extra mile to ensure that the office doubles as a second home to its employees. Or at least comes close to it. The cafeteria, pool table and even the occasional gym in the office made news till a couple of years ago. Today, offices plan much more.

Says Jimmy Tangree, station head of Red FM, where people work round the clock: “Over the next couple of months, we will have a state-of-the-art entertainment and recreation zone, a 24-hour cafeteria and bunks where people can catch a nap and even sleep overnight. We also plan to have showers.”

Many IT companies have snoozing rooms for workers, while most hotels have always had beds in employee locker rooms.

But sometimes the employees go a step further in a bid to make the office feel like home. “From a television set and DVD player to an electric plate and music system, my boss has practically everything in his office cabin. He has recently even added a sofa-cum-bed,” chuckles Deep Chakraborty (name changed on request), employed with a multinational company in Bangalore.

WHY IS OFFICE NOT HOME?

•   You can have a bath in office, but you can’t roam around in a towel (unless you are Ranbir Kapoor)
•  You can snooze, but can’t snore (unless you are The Big Boss)
•  You can eat to your heart’s content, but can’t burp (unless you are shameless)
•  You can dress casual to work, but not too sexy (unless you are desperate)
•  You can listen to music, but can’t break into a jig (unless your boss asks you to do so)
• You can use a face wash in office, but can’t apply a face mask (unless that improves your looks)
• You can eat chicken in office, but can’t chew and spit out the bones (unless you have a door with a DND sign)