Today's ambitious worker arrives at the office with two mobile
phones, a BlackBerry and an iPod, enjoys sushi for lunch, downs
decaf cappuccino in meetings and then heads for the gym, according
to a survey of 1,500 workers.
Recruitment agency Office Angels released the essential research
this week and coined an acronym to replace the YUPPY* of the 80s:
the GOSSIP, or Gadget Obsessed, Status Symbol Infatuated
Professional.
Today's young professional demands smaller gadgets – iPod nanos,
laptop memory sticks, BlackBerrys – and lots of them. At least two
mobile phones are de rigeur, say 45% of respondents: one
for work, one for play.
The sandwich is dead: 48% of office employees believe that
what’s in your lunchbox sends out powerful signals about your
workplace ambitions. Top of the status symbol choices are sushi and
sashimi followed by organic salads. Wraps with exotic fillings are
OK; burgers and fries or egg and cress sandwiches are not.
Nearly a third (31%) of those surveyed admit to spending more
than £10 per week on shop-bought coffee – despite free facilities
at work. And 43% of workers claim to exercise before work. Of
those, most say they use the actual journey to and from work as
their ‘work-out’ – be it cycling, running or simply walking to a
bus stop further away.
The power suit was also revealed as a fashion icon of the past.
Today, 62% of offices adopt a dress-down policy at least once a
week.
