Forget that I ever existed

AskAsk

these places are great if you are the sort of person who love to socialise and go out drinking as you can get all this for free or very cheaply, and you always got plenty of drinking buddies to go out with.  but if you are not that sort of person, then it won't work for you as you will feel very left out and your colleagues will bond with each other and you are left out of the bonding network.

so really go for it, if you like the idea as it can be a very good place to work for, but leave it if you are not the sort of person that will be participating as it won't work.

Iamdebtfree

Great environment for an adventure-hungry extrovert party loving 22 y old. Not so great for someone older and no longer a social butterfly who's been there, done that, worn the t shirt and just wants to get the 9-5 out of the way and get home to relax and rest.

I would have loved this set up at 20. Now, 30 years later? Ugh. No thank you. 

AskAsk

Iamdebtfree said:

Great environment for an adventure-hungry extrovert party loving 22 y old. Not so great for someone older and no longer a social butterfly who's been there, done that, worn the t shirt and just wants to get the 9-5 out of the way and get home to relax and rest.

I would have loved this set up at 20. Now, 30 years later? Ugh. No thank you. 

we were all in our twenties and the boss was in his thirties, which i thought was quite old at the time, lol.  but i think he was the one that wanted to go out partying and so introducing that culture allowed him to do so and claim it under expenses.

there was one partner there who was in his fourties, and he never came along, not even for a drink 

pjcox2005

Not to that extreme but have often had beers, socials and away trips. Perfect in my 20s, gave me a strong connection with the company and friends for life I now do similar with at my own expense and time.

Now left, probably wouldn’t suit quite as much given family stage of life, but it was never compulsory to begin with. A nice added extra but pay and work quality were still the main points for being there.

[Deleted User]

I came by this, complete with beer holding pic! 
https://www.perkbox.com/uk/platform/perks/everything-you-need-to-know-about-perks-at-work
I used to work at a company that at one point wouldn't even supply the basics for a hot drink, that when it branched out and got a further office in the city turned into one of these fun-filled 'ahems, apparently, though surprisingly the reviews on glassdoor hardly got better.

AskAsk

ushjr said:

The place I mentioned is in Old Street. I suppose when you're a young graduate moving to a new city it sounds good. I used to like the thought of going for after work drinks but when I finally did I just wanted to go home and have my dinner.

I'm very skeptical of these so called 'fun' places to work. Like someone mentioned you're paying for it through lack of decent salary and at the end of the day I work for money not to play ping pong. I just find the whole thing so fake. 

i don't find the ethics at these companies to be great as they expect you to work very hard even though it gives the impression that you doss around with all these distractions.  the distractions are there because you are expected to be working long hours and so you are never home.  they want you to give up your personal life and live in the office.  your colleagues become your family and friends.

the place where i worked that had a staff restaurant which served breakfast, lunch and dinner was because people were often in before breakfast working and they were still there when it was dinner time!  and there were ice cream and chocolates all over the place because you never got out of the building!

steampowered

This sort of thing is very common in the tech start-up community. It's very popular with young high growth companies. 

It does not mean you are pressured to drink, or go out with colleagues all the time. 

ceremony

I worked for a tech company like that, and basically, they make the office 'amazing' so that you could stay there all the time -because you're going to end up putting stupid hours in. The office culture was presenteeism and constant crunch time. You were shamed if you had a life or a family or any priority at all that wasn't work.

I ended up seriously ill working for that place and these days I view anywhere with a 'fun office' as probably having a horrible culture.

jobbingmusician

I've mystery shopped a LOT of offices like this.  All self-consciously hip and awful, to me.  I agree, they have to be paid for somehow, and it's usually out of staff wages indirectly.  Which isn't to say I don't socialise at work - I've worked with some really great teams, been on holiday with friends from work, etc et.

ACG

For me it would be down to the people I worked with.
My first job in a call centre for a bank, I would have loved that as everyone I worked with I got on with and went drinking with anyway. Free beer and free holidays mixed in, I would have loved. 

But I have had jobs where I didnt really get on with the people I worked with, they were work colleagues. I did not see them outside work unless it was a team night out, but as it was only 4 times a year I forced myself to go. 

Now though, I am 35 and I have a family. I would probably still go out on nights out and holidays but not all of them. 

If that is not you, it is not you. Depending on the make up of the people there, you might find you are left out of "the clique" so to speak. As you say, it might not be the place for you, where as for others it would be the dream. It all depends on you and where you are in your life I suppose.