How corporate culture, work-styles have changed

In May, IBM began calling its remote workers back to regional offices in a reversal of the dramatic changes the company has made in the last 10 years.

Famous for nearly a century for its conservative dress code and standards, IBM once expected its largely male workforce to wear pin-striped suits, white button-down shirts, ties and wing tips. And, indeed, in 1918, according to the IBM Archives, the all-male workers were dressed identically, sporting even the same haircut. They couldn’t drink or smoke, according to USA Today.

By 1953, the sales force sported different colored double-breasted suits and hats were evidently not mandatory. By 1978, hair was longer and ties wider but the required suit remained.

However, in the 1990s, Big Blue caught up with office fashion. Workplace casual was acceptable for men and women. While women were previously pictured as wearing only low-key skirts and sweaters, by the 1990s, they, too, were wearing pants.

Clothing wasn’t the only thing to change. In the 1990s, according to the Harvard Business Review, IBM had dropped the requirement to ‘badge in’ for work. Ironically, though this was considered old-fashioned then, higher security now does require identification.

In one way, IBM set the tone for future work way back in the 1930s. The company encouraged team sports, like baseball teams. It created a company song book, company newsletter and, in 1936 founded a symphony. Ordinary workers received insurance, lunched in company cafeterias, and had paid vacations.

Note that all these perks were mainly group perks. In 2017, companies like Google and Facebook, founded by young people, began to offer individualized perks: eggs to nap in, exercise, child care, laundry service, and yoga.

While modern corporations still believe in remote workers, some, like Apple and Google, have built headquarters geared to their young workforce. Apple’s spaceship and Google’s Googleplex have become work destinations, not just the office.