12 Things People Used to Do at Work That Would Never Fly Today
Do you recall a time when the office was a completely different place? Nowadays, doing something that was once accepted as usual will get you fired, sued, or at the very least a significant side-eye because workplace culture has changed so drastically. Technology continues to progress, social norms continue to change, and our understanding of health and employment rights has increased significantly.
Let’s look at 12 once-common workplace behaviors that would cause absolute chaos in today’s professional world.
Three-Martini Lunches
Back in the day, bigshots would knock back multiple drinks during lunch meetings that dragged on forever. The booze flowed freely during work hours—clients expected it, and bosses encouraged it.
Try ordering three martinis at a business lunch now and watch your career prospects evaporate faster than cheap vermouth. Companies nowadays have zero tolerance for drunken dealmaking since they’ve figured out that sober employees make better decisions.
Shocking, right?
Carbon Copy Memos
Office workers used carbon paper, which were untidy sheets that copied writing onto numerous pages at once, before clicking “Reply All” destroyed your day. Heaven forbid you made a mistake in the middle, and your hands would get blue-black stains.
There was no delete button, so you had to start over by tearing everything up. People used to spend entire workdays simply copying what we now share in a matter of seconds.
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Filing Everything Physically
Offices once dedicated entire rooms—sometimes entire floors—to storing paper documents in endless rows of metal cabinets. Finding anything meant digging through folders, hoping someone hadn’t misfiled what you needed.
Paper cuts were an occupational hazard. The truly unfortunate souls tasked with “records management” spent whole careers alphabetizing, categorizing, and hunting down misplaced contracts.
Digital storage has rescued modern workers from this paper prison.
Dictating Letters to Secretaries
Managers rarely typed their own correspondence. Instead, they’d summon a secretary, spout off a letter while the poor soul scribbled in shorthand, then expect a perfectly typed document later.
Some bosses dictated that secretaries would transcribe into recording devices using headphones and foot pedals to control playback. The power dynamic was wildly unbalanced—try asking a coworker to type up your thoughts now and see how quickly HR calls you in for a chat.
Formal Dress Codes
Rigid appearance rules once governed office life with suffocating strictness. Men sweltered in suits year-round while women navigated absurd restrictions on everything from skirt length to acceptable jewelry.
Banking institutions required dark suits only—no brown, no patterns, no personality whatsoever. Some places even inspected women’s hosiery to ensure compliance with dress codes.
The comfort revolution in workplace attire ranks among the greatest quality-of-life improvements for modern professionals.
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Manual Calculations
Before Excel existed, accounting departments resembled math monasteries where employees hunched over paper spreadsheets performing calculations by hand or with clunky adding machines. One numerical error could throw off an entire quarter’s financials.
Balance sheets that now update instantaneously once took teams of people days or weeks to produce. The tedium of manual number-crunching has thankfully been deleted from modern work life.
Phone Etiquette Training
Companies used to run actual classes teaching employees the “correct” way to answer telephones. Workers memorized scripts and practiced proper phone voice.
Receptionists maintained elaborate message pads and mastered the art of call transfers without digital help. The death of landlines has mostly killed this practice, though customer service reps still endure call monitoring.
The elaborate phone protocols of yesteryear would baffle younger workers who prefer texting anyway.
Personal Assistants
Mid-level managers once commanded dedicated helpers who handled everything from typing to coffee-fetching to buying anniversary gifts for the boss’s spouse. These assistants functioned partly as employees and partly as personal servants—picking up dry cleaning, making dinner reservations, or shopping for personal items on company time.
Today’s administrative professionals support entire departments and would laugh if asked to perform personal errands for individual managers.
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Physical Harassment
There was a time when the office was overly sentimental. Incessant unwanted back rubs, prolonged hugs, and “friendly” pats occurred with no repercussions.
Since such behavior wasn’t regarded as harassment but rather as something to put up with, victims hardly ever complained. Physical boundaries are now firmly safeguarded by laws, training, and a culture shift that acknowledges everyone’s entitlement to personal space in professional situations, entirely flipping the norms.
Drinking at Work Celebrations
Office parties were basically booze-soaked disaster zones where career-limiting moves happened by the dozen. The annual holiday bash often featured open bars leading to photocopied body parts, ill-advised confessions, and Monday-morning regrets.
Company events now typically limit alcohol severely or offer entirely alcohol-free alternatives. The liability issues alone have sobered up corporate celebrations, not to mention heightened awareness about inclusion for non-drinkers.
Exclusionary Hiring Practices
Job ads once specified exactly who companies wanted in shocking terms. “Attractive female secretary, under 30” or “Family man for management role” appeared in actual newspaper listings.
Interviewers asked women about marriage plans and men about their provider status. Employment discrimination wasn’t just common—it was explicitly stated company policy.
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Manual Timekeeping
Workers once lined up to punch physical cards in time clocks, creating daily bottlenecks at shift changes. Time theft ran rampant through “buddy punching” where friends would clock each other in.
Payroll departments manually calculated hours, often making errors that shorted workers’ checks. Automated time tracking has eliminated most of these issues, though surveillance has intensified—your digital footprint now tracks your productivity in ways old-school time cards never could.
Not Your Grandparents’ Workplace Anymore
The office environment keeps transforming with each generation. Many positive changes have made work safer, fairer, and more efficient, though new challenges have emerged too.
Remote work, digital surveillance, and constant connectivity create fresh concerns our parents never imagined. One thing’s certain—today’s workplace norms will seem just as outdated to future workers as these bygone practices appear to us now.
The evolution never stops, and that’s probably for the best.
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