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You guys are funny! I'm an engineer and work with nothing but engineers. My coworkers and I are good friends outside of the office and we talk about non-work stuff. I am off work on medical leave and just today, a couple of them took me out to lunch just to check on me!
Engineers have always had that reputation, and "Dilbert" doesn't help. But I can't help myself on this one. As you know there are few women in engineering. "Engineers view women the way most people view tigers: They are nice to look at, just don't get too close."
I, too, am an engineer. (are all the engineers crawling out of the woodwork for this thread?).
At my current job there is very little socializing in the office. We occasionally go to lunch or have an office BBQ but I don't consider anybody at work to be a real friend.
At my previous job, the environment was much more social. We hung out after work, played golf, went to happy hours, bike rides, worked out together etc. I had several good friends there, and in fact, I asked two of them to be groomsmen in my wedding. Maybe it was simply a younger group, I dunno.
From my experiences, it seems that having friends at work relies heavily on where you and they are in life. I have had 3 major jobs since college. One was a research assistant at the college I graduated from. I worked with mainly people around my age (mid 20's to mid 30's), most were still in college, grad school, or recently graduated, most were single. I was very social with people from there and we went out a lot and I still have contact with many and consider some still as friends. There were about two people married and with families who worked there who didn't really go out though.
Life took it's course and a few years later, I then worked data entry. I was early 30's and single and most people there (in my department anyways) were also single and probably ten year age difference in each direction from me. I made lots of friends there and we often got together outside work. Bars, restaurants, parties. Data entry workers are treated like crap and we often bonded over the crappy treatment and how management ran the place. The "us vs. them" approach creates strong bonds. I am still great friends with many of these people. Once again, people who were married and/or had kids were most likely the ones to not go do social things outside of work.
I am now a contractor. I work as an admin. assistant for a very large company but the regional branch I work for is not very large. My supervisor normally works from home so I work alone most of the time. My job doesn't really tie in with anyone else in my office so I don't have much interactions with other employees except for small talk in the halls. Most employees are a little older than me (I'm 37) and most seem to be married with families. Even in small talk around vending machines or so forth usually has them talking about a spouse or kids. No one at the office would I consider a friend, mainly because I have so little interaction with them, but if I did, I do get the sense that after work, most go home to continue work and/or back to their families and don't really do much with other employees outside work. It is how corporate america seems to work.
So I think the key is working with people in your similar situation, whatever that may be. People who are married often hang out with other married people. People with kids tend to hang out with people with kids. Being single and not having kids gives you more free time to be social but often must find other single and like minded people to do that with and the older you get, the more difficult that seems to be.
We used to have 'official unofficial company events' all the time, but over the last few months management has been creating conflict with everyone and encouraging backstabbing and tattling so everyone is afraid to hang out. Luckily, a few of us are pissed off at the way things are being dealt with and have decided to start everything up again with a few employees. We'll certainly see how it goes...
You do realize that actually being friends with co-workers leads to more productivity in the company overall...don't you? Companies work as a team, not as a collection of individuals.
No, it doesn't. You don't have to like your coworkers to do your jobs. After your shift is over, you can go home and not be required to deal with them. Unless you're stupid enough to live with them too.
No, it doesn't. You don't have to like your coworkers to do your jobs. After your shift is over, you can go home and not be required to deal with them. Unless you're stupid enough to live with them too.
lol...no...
I mean a team works better than a collection of individuals. That is what the term 'synergy' actually means. Work teams where the individuals are friends produce more results on the job than work teams where individuals are not friends.
You guys are funny! I'm an engineer and work with nothing but engineers. My coworkers and I are good friends outside of the office and we talk about non-work stuff. I am off work on medical leave and just today, a couple of them took me out to lunch just to check on me!
Just having fun stereotyping. I work with a lot of engineers and most of them are great and a lot of fun.
Why don't they just let Weekend Traveler post under her real name anymore?
I don't really hang out with anyone from work because they all live on the opposite side of town.
That's a good point. In my case, I work in Manhattan, so my coworkers live in a radius of up to sixty miles outside the city in all directions. Only one or two actually live in the city. We're not in an industry where you are paid well enough to afford Manhattan!
Engineers have always had that reputation, and "Dilbert" doesn't help. But I can't help myself on this one. As you know there are few women in engineering. "Engineers view women the way most people view tigers: They are nice to look at, just don't get too close."
We have quite a few women in engineering where I work, but I remember when we only had one female engineer in design and when the first one started in the construction division.
Some of them are now in positions of pretty high responsibility.
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