The truth about office life - shallow and fake

Alain de Botton documented this artificial environment:

"A lot of these firms, in a downturn, having spoken about love and friendship and all that, don’t lose much sleep about getting rid of 20 per cent of the workforce," he points out.

"And that really fries your head, to be told ‘we love you, we love you’ and then to be got rid of."

Office life exists on a level of "shallow cheerfulness", and talking about a crisis of meaning or any other deep feeling is strictly frowned on.