The Office is a hugely popular American workplace sitcom based on the original British show of the same name. The Office takes place in Scranton, PA, where the Dunder Mifflin company sells paper to grateful wholesale clients across the country—or rather, it tries. Sadly, Dunder Mifflin has run into some hard times.
Any new hire would think that Dunder Mifflin is a fine place to work for, and seemingly offers a stable and profitable company with a cozy office and colorful co-workers to make friends with. There are some good times to be had, but new hires will soon realize that working at Dunder Mifflin also involves serious downsides and harsh realities, many of which can be traced back to the wacky employee’s pranks and misconduct.
10 Dunder Mifflin Often Loses Clients
A company like Dunder Mifflin will thrive or die based on its relationship with its wholesale clients, and that’s why the company is always hunting for fresh prospects across the nation. Once in a while, Michael Scott’s office will impress a client, but many more times, clients are quite upset with Dunder Mifflin.
For any number of reasons, Dunder Mifflin may fumble with a sale or upset a client and lose that client entirely, often for entirely avoidable reasons. Any sales rep would be dismayed to see so many clients slip through their fingers like that.
9 Dwight Creates False Emergencies For Training Purposes
Dwight Schrute is one of the most creative and proactive employees at Dunder Mifflin, and he’s deeply amusing to watch. He would make a lousy co-worker, though, since his antics often go too far, even when he has the best intentions. He doesn’t need pranks to ruin someone’s day.
Dwight takes security and safety very seriously, to the point he’ll create stressful false emergencies to force his co-workers to practice dealing with said emergencies. He even started a fire to test everyone’s fire evacuation skills, only to give poor Stanely a non-lethal heart attack.
8 Todd Packer Is Obnoxious & Creepy
Dunder Mifflin has more than a few questionable people on its payroll, and that includes the traveling salesman Todd Packer, who shows up every now and then to make trouble. He’s usually on the road, but when he arrives in the office, everyone has to brace themselves for the worst.
Todd is a self-entitled and obnoxious employee who harasses and demeans everyone around him, and he’s also prone to juvenile humor that raises all kinds of eyebrows. Every office has an awkward employee or two, but Todd is downright unbearable, including that time he fed everyone spiked cupcakes.
7 Kelly Kapoor Spreads Rumors & Pries Into People’s Lives
Kelly Kapoor is a lively and curious employee who keeps sticking her nose in other people’s business. Although everyone is used to her prying and poking by now, her nosy behavior still isn’t appreciated. When Kelly hears a juicy rumor, she’ll milk it for all it’s worth.
Kelly loves to stir up drama with her rumors, share secrets, and even manipulate people – including that time she lied to her boyfriend Ryan about being pregnant to keep him loyal. No one would be happy being lied to like that.
6 Angela Martin Disapproves Of Everything
Angela Martin has had her kind moments, but overall, she’s widely disliked for being the type who scolds everyone for everything, and she always seems dissatisfied with something. Angela is highly critical and sometimes a bully, especially toward her fellow accountant Kevin Malone. Oscar doesn’t like her that much, either.
Angela is competent at her job, but that doesn’t justify her endless antagonism and general bad mood. It’s true that anyone would be annoyed by the antics around them, but Angela’s sour attitude is certainly not helping anyone. She was also dishonest with Dwight and Andy, and lost the affection of both men.
5 There Are Too Many Meetings
The meeting scenes are amusing for viewers, and some of The Office‘s best scenes took place during Dunder Mifflin’s many meetings. However, for the employees, these meetings are a huge drag and a total waste of time in most cases. And in real life, many working professionals say that meetings are inefficient and unnecessary in most cases.
There’s a good reason why Dunder Mifflin’s employees sigh or groan with exasperation every time Michael calls for a meeting, which always end up being a total time sink. In fact, Stanley usually tuned them out to work on a crossword puzzle, and half the time, Michael didn’t finish preparing for the meeting anyway.
4 No One Can Agree On Who Should Be In Charge
Office politics often involve employees working their way towards promotions or raises, and that’s fairly normal. Any ambitious employee will do what they must, within reason, to claim a loftier title at their workplace, but at Dunder Mifflin’s office, it’s downright brutal.
Michael is the boss, but Dwight is determined to claim his title, and he goes to ridiculous lengths to become the next manager, which leads to all kinds of tension. At one point, Michael and Jim actually shared the title of general manager, which wound up being more trouble than it was worth.
3 Michael Has Poor Judgment
Many of the office’s biggest issues can be traced back to Michael Scott himself. Among other issues, he has remarkably poor judgment in terms of work and people alike, and he tends to get suckered by others or make ill-advised decisions.
Michael kept Jan as his girlfriend despite how much of a burden Jan became, and he overworked himself to provide for her when he should have broken up with her instead. He also tried to buy an expensive condo despite not needing it, and was advised against it. At a cost, he pulled out of the deal.
2 Michael Has No Boundaries Or Taste
Possibly the most amusing aspect of The Office, but the most miserable part of working at Dunder Mifflin, is Michael Scott’s outrageous antics. Deep down, Michael is a good person who wants what’s best for his office and employees, but he nearly always expresses it the wrong way.
Michael is notorious for his many off-color jokes on a variety of topics, some of them highly sensitive, and he also makes awkward comments or physical gestures without realizing how uncomfortable it all really is. He even spanked his misbehaving nephew, played by actor Evan Peters.
1 It’s An Inefficient & Distraction-Filled Workplace Overall
Once in a while, it’s a good idea to boost employee morale with parties or rewards, but the Dunder Mifflin workplace takes it too far, and all the pranks, meetings, bad jokes and more create a dysfunctional workplace that no employee would like.
Distractions are a major issue in real workplaces, including home offices, and that seriously hampers productivity and employees’ concentration. With the constant racket at Dunder Mifflin, an employee will constantly have their mind on something other than their work, and that’s not good.
About The Author