Reddit answers: Is it okay to walk around your Big Four office in socks?

An Aussie worker claiming to be a member of a Big Four consultancy has sparked off an unlikely internet debate, taking to Reddit to ask if others think it’s okay to walk around the office in socks?

According to the poster to the r/auscorp sub, there has been a distinct rise in colleagues getting about the office with their shoes off since the unwinding of widespread work-from-home mandates, much to the OP’s revulsion.

While not revealing their specific employer out of Deloitte, PwC, EY or KPMG, the poster wrote: “Big Four here and I cannot believe there are a few that think it’s okay to take their shoes off and walk around the office in socks.”

The OP then went on to ask if they were perhaps just out of touch, receiving a curiously mixed response. While the general consensus was that it mostly wasn’t cool – one wit asked if it was the Big4 Holiday Parks the OP was referring to as their employer – others seemed perfectly hunky dory with what would have surely once been considered a blatant breach of professional standards.

This author personally ran a music store in the tropics mostly barefoot. But as a likely unnecessary reminder, to keep things in context, whichever of the Big Four the OP works for it’s at least generating $2 billion in revenues with a national headcount in excess of 5,000 so-called professionals. Imagine if every one of them slipped off their shoes and sandals at the same time?

Despite this, some posters came to the defence of the fancy-free, noting poor temperature control measures and displaying a general live-and-let-live attitude to the shodding of others. One captured the sentiment by stating; “Why not? In my office we pay people to solve complex problems and design solutions; they talk with others via cameras that only capture their head and shoulders.”

However, those on both sides of the debate also generally provided some caveats; exceptions for pregnant women and people who might have a specific medical condition for the ‘keep-them-on’ brigade, who also noted the difficulties women in particular faced with regards to uncomfortable heels, while the libertarians commonly said the level of grossness was basically a matter of hygiene.

“I don't give one single fucx what people do or don’t wear on their feet. The issue is whether or not they smell rancid,” said one, with another responding; “We already have problems with people who are oblivious to or unconcerned about their poor hygiene. My feet stink, even to me, and I don't want to have to see or smell anyone else’s. Even my own toddler's feet stink (poor kid).”

Others were more unnerved about the potential display of toes in general, with both phobics and fetishists expressing the heightened challenges they faced working in an office environment in summer. One poster said that navigating the policy seemed to be; “Attractive woman? Go for it. Weird IT guy; gross.” Another said; “If I’m forced to wear pants, the rest of you can keep your shoes on.”