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.
