History YMMV / OfficeSpace

'''Peter:''' Yeah, I know. '''''[ComicallyMissingThePoint The guy's really good]]'''''.\\

** Nina, the secretary in corporate accounts payable, seems to be the only lower-level employee at Initech who's not completely miserable. Is that because she's genuinely happy with her job[[note]]after all, in RealLife, secretaries tend to have higher job satisfaction than average[[/note]], or because she's a StepfordSmiler? Is her cheery attitude toward people who are clearly miserable a genuine effort to cheer them up, a survival mechanism for office life at Initech, or condescension for the people who ''don't'' enjoy their jobs? Notice how she's not genuinely ''helpful'' in this respect -- "a case of the Mondays" implies it's Peter's fault he's miserable. And she ''also'' treats Milton like crap (telling him to wait for his cake - knowing that this will in fact deny him any, for the second time in a row - while she's clearly already got her own).

** Although the cycle has come and gone several times since the film, one can see the boom and bust cycle in both the tech and construction industries. A later viewer who's befuddled as to why Peter would be fine leaving a tech job for construction work contrasts with an even ''later'' viewer who can absolutely relate to that particular career change. In the 1990s, there was simply a huge market for real estate; in the late 2010s, it was so expensive to get a college degree (which you'd need for a tech job) that construction and tradesmanship looked a lot more attractive. It helps that by UsefulNotes/TheNewTwenties, things such as wage stagnation, companies hiring freelancers over full-time employees, and longer work schedules have resulted in tech company jobs no longer providing the stable middle-class lifestyle they did in the 90s.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Dated technology notwithstanding, this movie, along with ''Film/FightClub'' and especially ''Film/AmericanBeauty'', was one of several films released during the late [[TheNineties 1990s]] and [[TurnOfTheMillennium very early 2000s]] which dwelled on the crushing banality of the American middle class, consisting of disaffected white guys who felt as though everything important had been accomplished and there was nothing left to do but let humanity run its course until the end of time. Ron Livingston even described his character as someone who imagines himself as the star of ''Fight Club''. A ton of things would change that feeling, though, starting with 9/11 and just careening onward from there. The only thing that hasn't really changed is the soul-sucking nature of white-collar office work.

** Lumbergh's TraumaCongaLine is incredibly fun to watch -- he gets a grilling from the Bobs, Peter finally works up the nerve to disobey him, and his car gets towed.

** Is Lumbergh a genuine BadBoss, or is he trying his best with a group of unmotivated employees? He's there at work on the weekend, he calls Peter at home several times to remind him to come to work, and his constant commands, while annoying, are the basic details of Peter's job. It's also implied that the company is preparing for the upcoming MillenniumBug (consistent with [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece the film's release date]]), meaning they're absolutely swamped with work and really do need the weekends to catch up. On the other hand, Lumbergh's manner of going about his job is terrible. He badly micromanages his employees, adores busywork like [=TPS=] reports (the Bobs deduce that he doesn't even ''read'' them), and clearly doesn't care about productivity -- if he did, he would spare ''some'' thought for his employees' well-being, and maybe not have them drop everything they're doing so that he could talk about how they need to be doing something. And none of this gets into his [[KickTheDog treatment]] of poor [[ButtMonkey Milton]].

** Although the cycle has come and gone several times since the film, one can see the boom and bust cycle in both the tech and construction industries. A later viewer who's befuddled as to why Peter would be fine leaving a tech job for construction work contrasts with an even ''later'' viewer who can absolutely relate to that particular career change. In the 1990s, there was simply a huge market for real estate; in the late 2010s, it was so expensive to get a college degree (which you'd need for a tech job) that construction and tradesmanship looked a lot more attractive.

** Although it's portrayed in a comedically extreme fashion, the "Rank And Yank" style of management used at Initech was actually very popular in the 80's and 90's, thanks to General Electric's notorious then-CEO Jack Welch's influence. The corporate scandals of the 2000's, plus the Great Recession of 2008 and the Great Resignation Of 2020, have led to far more discussion about mental health in the workplace and maintaining positive/collaborative company cultures. Thus, the "Rank and Yank" style of management has become far less popular (although it is still used at some companies - particularly those that are run by older CEO's [[StatusQuoIsGod who had been using it since its heyday]]).

** The Bobs' struggle to figure out how to motivate their employees and keep them from totally bailing out got new relevance after the Covid-19 pandemic, the work-from-home boom, and the "Great Resignation", when people started quitting office jobs ''en masse''. Many of the conversations had then about balancing profits and employees' well-being, maximizing productivity, and avoiding burnout were exactly what the Bobs were trying to start two decades before.

** If you don't like your boss or workplace, learn a trade so you can be your own boss. The magazine salesman is happier and making more money than he did at his boring old job. And Peter [[spoiler: finds happiness working in construction alongside his buddy Lawrence.]]

** Nina, the secretary in corporate accounts payable, seems to be the only lower-level employee at Initech who's not completely miserable. Is that because she's genuinely happy with her job[[note]]after all, in RealLife, secretaries tend to have higher job satisfaction than average[[/note]], or because she's a StepfordSmiler? Is her cheery attitude toward people who are clearly miserable a genuine effort to cheer them up, a survival mechanism for office life at Initech, or condescension for the people who ''don't'' enjoy their jobs? Notice how she's not genuinely ''helpful'' in this respect -- "a case of the Mondays" implies it's Peter's fault he's miserable. And she ''also'' treats Milton like crap (telling him to wait for his cake while she's clearly already got her own).

** The "Rank And Yank" style of management used at Initech was actually very popular in the 80's and 90's, thanks to General Electric CEO Jack Welch's influence. The corporate scandals of the 2000's, plus the Great Recession of 2008 and the Great Resignation Of 2020, have led to far more discussion about mental health in the workplace and maintaining positive/collaborative company cultures. Thus, the "Rank and Yank" style of management has become far less popular (although it is still used at some companies - particularly those that are run by older CEO's [[StatusQuoIsGod who had been using it since its heyday]]).

** The "Rank And Yank" style of management used at Initech was actually very popular in the 80's and 90's, thanks to General Electric CEO Jack Welch's influence. The corporate scandals of the 2000's, plus the Great Recession of 2008 and the Great Resignation Of 2020, have led to far more discussion about mental health in the workplace and maintaining positive/collaborative company cultures. Thus, the "Rank and Yank" style of management has become far less popular (although it is still used at some companies - particularly those that are run by older CEO's that want to [[StatusQuoIsGod maintain their long-held status quo]]).

** The "Rank And Yank" style of management used at Initech was actually very popular in the 80's and 90's, thanks to General Electric CEO Jack Welch's influence. The corporate scandals of the 2000's plus the Great Recession of 2008 led to far more discussion about healthy workplace cultures, work-life balance, and mental health within the workplace. Making the "Rank and Yank" style much less popular (although it is still used, in various forms, at a number of companies - usually those run by older CEO's).

* AccidentalAesop: If you want to succeed in life, you need to learn confidence and charisma. Peter wins over the Bobs with his plain-spoken candor and honesty. Tom loses his job after he melts down in the middle of his interview with the Bobs.

%%* MisaimedFandom: Ron Livingston has been told by many fans that the movie convinced them to quit their jobs. But that's not the message of the film; the message is to quit if you hate it ''so'' much that it drains you of your will to live. While a lot of people have jobs like that, not everyone does. And in any event, the heroes are definitely committing a crime by robbing their company, only avoid prison through sheer dumb luck, and are all relieved to have jobs again by the end.%%

%* MisaimedFandom: Ron Livingston has been told by many fans that the movie convinced them to quit their jobs. But that's not the message of the film; the message is to quit if you hate it ''so'' much that it drains you of your will to live. While a lot of people have jobs like that, not everyone does. And in any event, the heroes are definitely committing a crime by robbing their company, only avoid prison through sheer dumb luck, and are all relieved to have jobs again by the end.%

* MisaimedFandom: Ron Livingston has been told by many fans that the movie convinced them to quit their jobs. But that's not the message of the film; the message is to quit if you hate it ''so'' much that it drains you of your will to live. While a lot of people have jobs like that, not everyone does. And in any event, the heroes are definitely committing a crime by robbing their company, only avoid prison through sheer dumb luck, and are all relieved to have jobs again by the end.

* AccidentalAesop: If you want to succeed in life, you need to learn confidence and charisma. Peter wins over the Bobs with his plain-spoken candor and honesty. Tom loses his job after he melts down in the middle of his interview with the Bobs.

** Are the Bobs a pair of heartless hatchetmen, or are they serious professionals who want to improve the company? Are they so mired in corporate buzzword "theories" that they see Peter as a go-getter and not a LazyBum? Or are they so disheartened by what they see when they interview everyone else that they ''correctly'' identify Peter as the one most likely to save the company, because he knows exactly what's wrong with it ''and'' spoke up about it? Do they grill Lumbergh because they want to show who the ''real'' boss is, or because they take their job seriously even if it means asking tough questions of high-ranking people? The main point against them, really, is that like Lumbergh, they ''also'' mistreat Milton, what with their idea not to let him know that he's been fired.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Peter’s interview with the Bobs. All the other interviewees are shown to be nervous, uptight, angry, and more than likely lying about what they do, how hard they work, and how well the company works -- essentially, just telling the Bobs what they think the Bobs want to hear. Peter, meanwhile, is relaxed, charming, easygoing, and [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest]] with the Bobs. But the Bobs made it perfectly clear from the start that brutal honesty is ''exactly'' what they're looking for. They're not looking to hear good things; they're looking for ''bad'' things so that they can see what needs fixing. And Peter is the only one who listens to them and gives them what they ''actually'' want. It's no wonder they identify him as the one most likely to fix things. His honesty and easygoing attitude probably ''would'' make for a great manager. (He just has to fix the whole "zoning out and being late" thing.)

** Is Peter really an oppressed victim of a bleak office environment, or is he a lazy and entitled jerk? One could point out that he has a poor work ethic, does the bare minimum required of him, and eventually engages in an illegal scheme to rob his company -- and convinces his friends to join him -- just because his bosses pushed him too hard to do his job. That said, Peter is ''supremely'' unmotivated and micromanaged, he discovers that his friends are getting laid off despite having a better work ethic, and when things start going wrong, he takes the blame to spare his friends. All this is muddled by the fact that his nonchalant attitude, at least in part, can be attributed to the hypnotherapy he tries at the start of the film.

* {{Adorkable}}: Joanna. Just look at the awkward way she plays with her hair and fumbles with things on the table on her first date with Peter. And, of course, she loves Series/KungFu.

** While Lumbergh is clearly a dick, there are some who see his behavior as intended to help the company (with the exception of his treatment of Milton). He clearly shows up to work on the weekend when everyone else has to and most of his annoying commands are basic details of Peter's job. It is implied that the company is backed up with [=Y2K=] companies, so it seems reasonable for Peter to work overtime to clear the backlog.
** The problem is that this interpretation only looks at the surface details of Lumbergh's behavior without considering the effect his actions have on the company at large. To wit: he has everyone stop what they're doing so he can give speeches on how they need to help the company, adds make-work and red tape to everything, doesn't seem to actually do any work himself, spends money on consultants just so they can tell him to fire his most competent employees (and argues with them when they make a decision he doesn't like), kills efficiency and productivity by asking people to work 7 days a week to catch up on projects, steals personal property from employees, etc. It is telling that the Bobs deduce that Lumbergh doesn't even bother to ''read'' the [=TPS=] reports he supposedly cares so much about. Not to mention Lumbergh clearly takes pleasure in constantly [[KickTheDog tormenting Milton]]. All this implies that Lumbergh isn't merely incompetent but he's a sadist who ''enjoys'' tormenting his employees at the expense of productivity.
** Is Peter really an oppressed victim of a bleak office environment or is he a lazy and entitled jerk?
*** Peter does literally the bare minimum he can and then decides to rob the company because they dare to expect him to do work for his paycheck (and convinces his friends to help based on their oncoming layoffs) which leads to near imprisonment for his friends.
*** On the other hand, he only planned the robbery when he was told about those friends getting fired despite their greater competence and work ethic, lacks work ethic himself because he's disincentivized to do any more than the bare minimum, and when things started going wrong he chose to take the blame to protect his friends. There are major movements within software development that are based around the conclusion that over-managing people can make them less productive as they are stripped of all initiative and become completely dependent upon their bosses. It actually parallels research showing much lower achievement for children of helicopter parents - being constantly monitored, they don't develop sufficient independence. While there are those who are unproductive because they are legitimately trying to do the bare minimum, there are plenty who are doing the bare minimum because they have been stripped of all motivation. That was the core of Peter's meeting with the Bobs: he's not lazy, he just has been given no reason to care. And when he gets a much more fulfilling construction job, he seems a lot more productive.
** Are the Bobs just a bunch of heartless hatchetmen, or are they serious professionals who do want to improve the company?
*** In defense of the former, they seem just as cold to the employees as Lumbergh, advising him not to confront Milton on the fact that he was fired while withholding any pay for work he might do. Which isn't just unethical, but borderline illegal.
*** In defense of the latter, they've interviewed dozens or hundreds of employees, most of them likely lying about their work ethic or accomplishments or daily routine or how they feel the company is doing, clearly interested in saving their own job. Then they interview Peter, telling the absolute truth to them about how Initech has serious problems and he has no incentive to help beyond his job description. There's a good chance they feel he's someone who can help turn the company around by actively fixing problems rather than push them aside or cover them up like others. The fact that they [[KickTheSonOfABitch also grill Lumbergh himself]], after he dismisses Peter's complaints, proves that while their job isn't exactly kind, they take it very seriously and don't play favorites.
** Is Tom a mistreated employee who is unfairly laid off because he couldn't control his emotions, or is he just an incompetent blowhard who deserved to be fired?
*** From his explanation, it's entirely possible he had a job back when the company was young before the Internet bubble started and his fax machine and secretary imperceptibly made him superfluous, and getting rid of him is exactly the kind of thing the Bobs ''should'' do. His argument for why he should have a job, his supposed "peoples' skills", is rendered moot considering his bad temperament during the interview isn't exactly how someone with "peoples' skills" behaves. Having such an ill-tempered man interacting with customers is probably not something any sane company would want.
*** On the other hand, Tom's job is actually ''incredibly'' important at any tech company (essentially, it requires an understanding of how to turn generally loose, vaguely-defined customer requirements into concrete specifications that the engineers can do something with, while also conveying to customers exactly what is and isn't possible; as such, it requires two discrete skillsets that not many people have.) Moreover, the suggested replacement of customers interacting directly with engineers is itself disastrous, as any time engineers spend explaining their job is time spent not doing it. Given one of the hidden aspects of Tom's job is to prioritize and collate these issues before talking to the engineers, he's preventing redundant reports from tying up the engineers' time. Of course, Tom does a ''terrible'' job explaining these things to the Bobs, which could be attributed to how on edge he very obviously was when the interview took place. This (as well as the other decisions by the Bobs) is meant to underline that the Bobs don't know what they're doing, since they apparently fail to recognize Tom's task.
** Nina the secretary seems to be one of the only non-management staff members at Initech who isn't only not completely miserable working there but is visibly happy in every scene (TruthInTelevision - secretaries, at least today, generally have higher-than average job satisfaction). Being a secretary may not be as high up on the corporate ladder as management, but it's still higher than being a cubicle worker, and her attempts at friendliness ("Someone's got a case of the Mondays!") are [[CondescendingCompassion just as dismissive as Lumberg's droning lectures]]. Is her too-cheery attitude the result of her, like Lumberg and the Bobs, lacking sympathy for anyone working a more frustrating job under them, does she genuinely like her job, or is she just better at dealing with the inanity of office work than most people and actually believe that everyone else is just being a stick-in-the-mud?
* {{Applicability}}: ''Anyone'' who's ever held down at least one job has probably worked at one that felt just as insufferable as Peter's. Plug any job into the story and nine times out of ten, whoever's worked or is currently working them will find themselves laughing at how much the movie reminds them of their own annoying co-workers, [[BadBoss incompetent or even abusive superiors]], stifling environments and trivial nuisances that they're expected to put up with at the expense of their own well-being.
* AssPull: Peter is disgusted when told that Joanna slept with Lumburgh and breaks up with her. He later learns that this was referring to another previously unmentioned character with that same last name, which somehow never occurred to him (admittedly it's not the most common last name).

** Two songs by Music/GetoBoys: "Damn, It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta" during Peter's GoodTimesMontage and "Still" during the heroes' mafia-style beatdown of the office printer.

* TheCatchPhraseCatchesOn: [[FountainOfMemes Several turns of phrase]] from the film have [[MemeticMutation become fairly commonplace]] in RealLife,e.g. "TPS Report", "pieces of flair", "[[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} a case of the Mondays]]", "Did you get that memo?" etc. Not to mention Music/MichaelBolton being described as a "no-talent ass-clown".

** [[spoiler:Milton finally setting the building on fire]].
** The karma Lumbergh suffers-getting grilled by the Bobs, Peter working up the nerve to disobey him, and his car getting towed, are incredibly fun to watch.

** Despite only appearing in a few scenes, Peter's neighbor Lawrence has become one character from the film that almost everybody remembers, largely due to his hilariously stone-faced delivery of the line "Two chicks at the same time," or his matter-of-fact refusal of Peter's offer to come over. "No thanks, man. Don't want you fuckin' up my life too."
** Milton remains this from the original cartoons.
* HarsherInHindsight: Peter takes a job in construction after being laid off from his ostensibly higher paying/skilled work in the office. After the 1990's internet boom ended, many middle class workers, displaced from factory and office jobs by automation, were absorbed into the then booming construction industry. Those extra construction jobs then disappeared in the 2008 Great Recession and have yet to be replaced by anything better than low wage service sector work.
* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Creator/GaryCole's [[TheStoic deadpan delivery]] convinced Mike Judge for a while that he wasn't sure if Cole knew the movie was a comedy — it took giving him [[CrossesTheLineTwice a coffee mug to hold during the dream sequence]] for Cole to [[{{Corpsing}} corpse]]. Knowing his later roles, it's not a surprise that this was in StarMakingRole in the comedy genre.

** In one scene, Peter tries to shut down his [[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh Mac]] quickly. It shows an MS-DOS-like command line, which Macs in 1999 did not have until a couple of years later with the release of the UsefulNotes/{{Unix}}-based Mac OS X. This was actually intentional on the part of Mike Judge. In the way that character traits are combined into a single person to make an "everyman", elements of Windows and UsefulNotes/MacOS were combined to make a "generic" computer that anyone could relate to, whether they used Windows or Mac. That same scene shows Mac and Windows style applications on the same screen.
** This movie features Ron Livingston as a guy who is treated like crap by his boss. Thirteen years later, Livingston plays a Lumbergh-like boss in ''Film/TheOddLifeOfTimothyGreen'' who treats his employees like crap (makes fun of the title character for not being a good soccer player and even steals patents from his employees). In fact, this character may actually be worse than Lumbergh.
** Michael Bolton's trashing of his namesake, singer/songwriter Music/MichaelBolton became this after Bolton the singer got a renewed surge of popularity after being featured as a guest vocalist in Music/TheLonelyIsland's song "Jack Sparrow."
** You know that plan to rip off the company with endless micro-transitions? Aside from being an homage to ''Film/SupermanIII'', [[http://www.cracked.com/article_17370_7-completely-unrealistic-movie-plots-that-came-true.html someone tried that themselves]]. It's common enough that it's got a name. Check out [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salami_slicing Salami slicing]] on [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]. It's even funnier than that when you consider this quote by Michael Bolton: "And a bunch of hackers in the 70s tried it as well. One of them got busted."
** A nebbish, beleaguered office worker who deals with the pent-up anger from their job by singing along to hardcore music. Are we talking about Michael Bolton or [[Anime/{{Aggretsuko}} Retsuko]]?
** What would Lawrence do with a million dollars? [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold fight crime]].
* JerkassWoobie: Michael. It's clear that his [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy love of hardcore gangsta rap]] and somewhat abrasive personality are his way of coping with the self-esteem issues and pent-up anger resulting from having an embarrassing name that he's constantly being asked the same stupid question about and working at a job that's not only unpleasant but ungrateful.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PywI0BOxJpI The printer scene]], arguably the most-known scene to everyone who hasn't watched the film. Parodied by ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' [[https://youtu.be/PywI0BOxJpI?t=1m27s here]] and ''WebVideo/{{Smosh}}'' [[https://youtu.be/f_ql-ZBJ8uI?t=2m23s here.]]

** "Yeeeaahh, I'm gonna need you to go ahead and...", etc. And to a lesser extent "That'd be greaaaaaaaaat."

** "Flair."

* MisaimedFandom: Ron Livingston has been told by many fans that the movie convinced them to quit their jobs. Perhaps not for the best, as the heroes are [[spoiler:definitely committing a crime by robbing their company, only don't get sent to prison out of sheer dumb luck and are all relieved to even have jobs again by the end]]. That said, the movie is still about not putting up with a job that you hate so much it drains you of your will to live and everyone is at least working a job that they enjoy at the end, so it's not quite so misaimed.
* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: Some reviewers have criticized ''Idle Profits'' for promoting the vapid work environment the movie was making fun of, for example, being more productive to climb the corporate ladder and increase profits. Even burning down the building becomes a regular obligation instead of an act of rebellion.
* StrawmanHasAPoint: When it comes to his treatment of Peter, Bill kind of has a point. Peter admits to the Bobs that he always shows up late, zones out at his desk, goofs off, and rarely ever gets any actual work done. Given how production-oriented being a software engineer is, this likely means his co-workers have been forced to pick up the slack.
** It's important to note that this behavior is clearly not something Peter engages in regularly. All of his bosses and coworkers are caught off guard by his new attitude, and it's clearly the result of his botched hypnotherapy session making him realize how miserable he is in his job. He exaggerates it to the Bobs in an effort to get himself fired, but they end up rewarding him for being honest about what they see as genuine concerns about the company.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Peter’s interview with the Bobs. While other interviewees are shown to be nervous, uptight, angry, and more than likely lying about what they do, how hard they work, and how well the company works (essentially just telling the Bobs what they think the Bobs WANT TO hear), Peter is relaxed, charming, easy going, and honest to the point of brutality with the Bobs. Peter cuts to the chase in his meeting, and it’s VERY CLEAR that the Bobs were impressed that someone was finally honest with them in pointing out what was wrong with the company. His “zoning out and being late” aside, someone who is honest, charming, and able to point out with no problem what was unnecessary and wrong with the company probably WOULD make a great manager.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The end credits song "Shove This Jay Oh Bee" by Canibus and Biz Markie seems to be taking a lot of conceptual cues from [[Film/{{Bulworth}} "Ghetto Superstar"]]: both are hip-hop theme songs to movies about [[SoundtrackDissonance white guys who rebel against their white-collar jobs]], both [[ExpositoryThemeTune recap the entire plot of their respective films]] and both sample country pop hits ("Take This Job and Shove It" by Johnny Paycheck for the former and "Islands In The Stream" by Music/KennyRogers and Music/DollyParton for the latter).
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Dated technology notwithstanding, this movie, along with ''Film/FightClub'' and especially ''Film/AmericanBeauty'', was one of several films released during the late [[TheNineties 1990s]] and [[TurnOfTheMillennium very early 2000s]] which dwelled on the crushing banality of the American middle class now that most white middle-class Americans felt as though everything important had been accomplished and there was nothing left to do but let humanity run its course until the end of time (Ron Livingston even described his character of Peter as imagining that he was the star of ''Fight Club''). UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror would put a stop to that a mere four years later and the rise of social media being used to spread information about greater social issues a decade later rendered any and all FirstWorldProblems moot. On top of that, the Great Recession of 2008 and the shaky recovery period that's been marked by high unemployment rates, a dry job market, and increasing income inequality makes Peter's job situation sound like a dream. That said, white collar office life hasn't changed that much.
* ValuesDissonance: After the Great Recession in 2008 and its long, shaky recovery marked by high unemployment rates and a very dry job market, it can be hard to sympathize with Peter {{wangst}}ing about [[FirstWorldProblems having a full-time job in his field of expertise, which apparently pays him enough to live in a decently sized apartment in a gated community]]. It makes Samir's line about how it would be nice to have the kind of job security that would allow you to have such a job till you're fifty years old, no matter how boring it is, a lot more poignant.
** The offhand joke Peter makes about shooting up the office near the beginning definitely comes off a lot [[HarsherInHindsight harsher]] now. Columbine wouldn't happen until a few months after the movie was released, not to mention the many many ''many'' other high-profile mass shootings that have happened since.

** While those with jobs similar to Peter's may not be as ungrateful to have them as he is, the environment of said jobs has not changed ''at all''. Office employees are still expected to deal with trivial bureaucratic crap like TPS report cover sheets, mission statements and timesheets, as well as having to answer to multiple bosses. Even the uncooperative technology persists to this day[[note]][[Film/{{Spaceballs}} "Fuck! Even in the future, nothing works!"]][[/note]]. The long-term psychological effects of working these sorts of jobs for too long, such as depression, are also taken a lot more seriously.
** In some cases, it's actually gotten ''worse'', both in white collar jobs like Intech and other jobs like retail or even film and television production, due to the aforementioned recession (at the very least, social media has brought greater attention to these problems which already existed). The dried-up job market and desperation of employees to hold down any job just to scrape by, whatever the cost, now allows employers to hold the threat of long-term unemployment and easy replacement over their employees' heads if they aren't ''completely'' self-sacrificing, often resulting in perfectly competent employees like Michael and Samir getting fired for being "dispassionate" and forcing those desperate enough to stay to pick up the slack. Knowing that Peter would undoubtedly be fired on the spot for saying that he doesn't want to do his job anymore simply because he doesn't feel like it makes it all the more hilarious when he's rewarded for it (and makes his, Michael and Samir's revenge scheme all the more satisfying). In the end, all three are relieved to have jobs again at all.
** Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the rise of "zooming", and the Great Resignation, the role of employers to provide a decent work-life balance has gained greater prominence. The Bobs wondering how they can motivate employees like Peter to work harder, and their [[EveryoneHasStandards anger]] at [[PointyHairedBoss Lumbergh's]] dismissive attitude, reflects discussions today.
** Peter ends the movie by giving up office work for construction work. In the late 2010's, rising awareness of the now incredibly high cost of college loans (that could leave people in debt for decades) caused a greater premium to be placed on trade jobs such as plumbing, electrical, and carpentry - all of which are in-demand for construction and contractor jobs.

** Poor, poor Milton. Every scene has Lumburg dolling out some kind of microagression on him, eventually firing him without telling him so he can get free labor and then moving his desk into ''the storage room'' and making him take care of the cockroach problem. He totally earns the right to [[spoiler:set the building on fire]] at the end.
** Anyone who's felt trapped in a boring office job will probably have a lot of sympathy for Peter.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Even fans have admitted that it's difficult to make 90 minutes of dry, quirky comedy in a dull corporate office sound exciting. Fox head Tim Rothman called the film one of the most difficult he'd ever had to market.

** Since the Co-Vid pandemic, the rise of "zooming", and the Great Resignation, the role of employers to provide a decent work-life balance has gained greater prominence. The Bobs wondering how they can motivate employees like Peter to work harder, and their [[EveryoneHasStandards anger]] at [[PointyHairedBoss Lumbergh's]] dismissive attitude, reflects discussions today.