With stock options in the tank and get-rich-quick dreams dashed, Internet companies are finding yet another heralded dot-com tradition in question: the culture of mandatory fun.
Nowadays, more employees are demanding cash for overtime rather than a plate of barbecue or a microbrew. They want time off instead of must-attend company picnics on the weekend to play paintball.
Not long ago, it was that fun environment and buckets of stock options that led many workers from old-line companies to dot-com start-ups. But since the stock market took a dive in April and many Internet companies fell out of favor with investors, more employees are finding that the start-ups aren't yielding the riches or satisfaction they had hoped for.
Suddenly, that culture of bosses who don't discipline or provide structure, cubicles that double as kennels, endless hours at offices equipped with pool tables, beanbag chairs, jukeboxes and in-house bars is pushing some Internet employees back into the traditional workplace. It's also forcing the companies to consider growing up.
"I don't miss the foosball, I don't miss walking around in my flip-flops," said Tracey R. Collins, a 22-year-old veteran of two Internet start-ups.
"There's something to be said for a little structure and stability," said Collins, now an associate at Pan Communications in Andover, Mass. "I like knowing I can leave the office at 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m. and that it's still going to be there."
As the 10th employee of LifeSimple.com, an online scheduling site, Collins worked long hours, holidays and weekends. But in September 1999, the company went out of business without any warning. Collins then joined Computer.com as the third employee. The Internet computer retailer launched during the Super Bowl in 1999 with an expensive ad campaign. Again, Collins worked through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. But she quit in May to join a traditional marketing and public relations firm.
Both Lifesimple and Computer.com had very relaxed work environments. People brought their dogs to work. They climbed up onto the roof with their laptops and worked while sunbathing. Employees had meetings while playing foosball. People walked around barefoot. "The free-spirited dot-com culture came with a price tag that was basically your life," Collins said. "I'm just so happy to be back to business."
