If you’re a fan of the sitcom The Office, you might imagine working in an actual office to be full of shenanigans and birthday parties. However, anyone who has real-life experience with a job like this knows that it can be much less exciting. 40 hours a week sitting at a desk and slaving away to earn your employer as much money as possible is not many people’s dream, but someone’s gotta do it! In fact, many of us have to do it. So if you’re all too familiar with the struggle of working a corporate job, this list goes out to you, pandas. The Corporate Humor Instagram account has amassed over 27k followers by sharing over 460 hilarious and painfully relatable memes, so we hope you enjoy checking them out.

And lucky for us, the last time Bored Panda featured Corporate Humor, about a year ago, we were able to get in touch with the account’s creator to have a chat about how the page was born. The founder shared that they started the successful Instagram page at the beginning of the pandemic, as they were getting burnt out and needed a way to vent. “I always thought humor and sarcasm was a good way to relieve some of the stress, so I started making my first memes,” they explained.

The creator of Corporate Humor went on to share that they didn’t expect the page to reach past their friends and family members at first, but the follower account quickly snowballed. “More and more people found it relatable! I’m still amazed that the following grew to 20K+,” they previously told Bored Panda. And when it comes to how they decide which memes to share, the founder noted that often they’ll create memes based on the ideas and personal stories that followers DM them.

"I try to build relationships with my followers. I’ve set up polls to learn more about their experiences," they went on to note, adding that it’s always great to hear from them. "When I get messages like 'wow I just went through this' or 'thank you for making us laugh!', it makes my day." In fact, the page has even helped some followers get in touch with one another for real-life job opportunities.

Managing a page as successful as Corporate Humor isn’t always easy, though. The creator noted that it can be a lot of work to consistently create memes, post content and respond to all of their followers. “But I enjoy doing it, so it’s worth it," they added. And as far as the demographics of the page’s followers, the creator shared that the majority of them are between the ages of 25-34, with a pretty even mix of men and women.

“My followers mainly reside in NY, Boston, and Chicago, but there are some in different parts of the world (like London and Singapore),” the creator previously told Bored Panda. “It’s amazing how far this account has reached. I always try to make my posts/stories engaging, so there’s constant engagement!"

It’s no secret that working in the corporate world isn’t for everyone, so if you’re curious about some of the tips and tricks that can help you survive that brutal dog eat dog environment, we consulted this article from Samia Hasan at Ellevate. First, Hasan notes that it’s common for an individual’s worth to be tied to their most recent performance rating. “Even if you were a top performer 5 years in a row, if for whatever reason you did not manage to get a top rating this year, you’re doomed,” she writes. “You may think that in your amazing company, they really sit down and evaluate all your results, compare them to your peers, iron out the differences in work plan and workload and give you a fair assessment on where you stand. If you go to work thinking that at the end of the year, this is how evaluation will be done, you are in for a huge setback.”

Sometimes, in the corporate world, people are only nice to you because they need something. Hasan goes on to explain that people working corporate jobs have to be prepared to learn that some of their “friendly” colleagues might not actually have their best interests at heart. And when it comes to getting a promotion, it’s important to understand that performance is not the only factor taken into consideration, the way your performance appears is very important as well. “When you are working in a diverse, multiethnic organization where people come from all sorts of cultures and backgrounds, the way each person views the world, filters information, processes it and then makes meaning out of it could differ significantly,” Hasan writes. “Perception is reality. It is imperative that you portray the right perception of your work and results to the decision makers who matter and will decide on your promotion.”

Regardless of how your employers view you in a corporate job, don’t forget that your self-worth should never be linked to your position and performance at work. Having a great month of sales does not suddenly make you a better person, and having a slump does not mean you deserve any less in your personal life. We all experience ups and downs, and it’s important to love ourselves unconditionally and keep our personal lives separate from our work lives. “While fortune does favor the bold, keep in mind there are so many factors that are outside your circle of influence that determine your career path and success in the company,” Hasan notes. “If you were to beat yourself up for failing at those, it wouldn’t be all that fair. Broaden your pie of self-worth and take pride in all the other roles you have in life when the going at work gets tough.”

Working a corporate job doesn’t have to be all bad, though. Sometimes, holding one temporarily can be a great way to earn some savings for what you really want to do in the future. Paul Millerd wrote a piece for his website Boundless breaking down how beneficial corporate jobs can be, first noting that they can help professionals develop skills that will help them later in their careers and lives. “In full-time work, there are endless opportunities to learn new things,” Millerd notes. “You just need to look for it. In a large organization almost everyone will know about something that you don’t know about. It would be impossible not to have people in your organization that could teach you something about marketing, finance, accounting, communication, managing others, or resolving conflict. Not to mention broader life skills like parenting, dealing with health challenges, or relationships. You just need to stay curious and keep asking questions.” 

By working a corporate job, you might even realize that you can live the fulfilling life you’ve always dreamed of while still balancing a full-time job. “One of the best things I did throughout my career was to go up to people that seemed to be thriving,” Millerd writes. “These are the people that everyone loves working with and that people admire. They stand out from the others with a certain ‘aliveness’ that is hard to deny … Go talk to these people.  Tell them that you admire their positive energy and ask them where it comes from … These people always have an experience that changed their life, a mentor that helped them approach life with a new perspective or a deeper purpose that drives them in their life. Try to spend time with these people. Ask them for book recommendations. Keep asking questions about their story and surround yourself with these people.”

How are you doing, pandas? Has your boss noticed that you’ve been scrolling through this list instead of doing your actual work? Quick, keep going before they catch on! We hope you’re enjoying these memes that might make you feel seen if you work in the corporate world. Keep upvoting the ones that you get a kick out of, and feel free to let us know what your experience working an office job has been like in the comments below. Then, if you’re interested in checking out even more of these relatable memes, you can find Bored Panda’s previous article featuring the same Instagram account right here!