Office Space - Plot

Plot

Peter Gibbons is a disgruntled programmer at Initech. He spends his days "staring at his desk" instead of reprogramming bank software to be Y2K-compliant. His co-workers include Samir Nagheenanajar, who is annoyed by the fact that nobody can pronounce his last name correctly; Michael Bolton, who loathes having the same name as the famous singer, whom he hates; and Milton Waddams, a meek, fixated collator who constantly mumbles to himself (most notably about his workmates' borrowing his favorite red Swingline stapler and about his plan or threat to set the workplace on fire). Milton had actually been laid off years earlier, though he was never informed and, due to a payroll computer glitch, he has continued to receive regular paychecks. All four are repeatedly bullied and harassed by management, especially Initech's smarmy, callous vice president, Bill Lumbergh. The staff are further agitated by the arrival of two consultants, Bob Slydell and Bob Porter, who are brought in to help through downsizing and outsourcing.

Peter is depressed, bored, and pushed around at work. He attends an 'occupational hypnotherapy' session urged by his girlfriend, Anne. The obese hypnotherapist, Dr. Swanson, suddenly dies of a heart attack before he can snap Peter out of a state of complete relaxation. The newly relaxed and still half-hypnotized Peter wakes up the next morning and ignores continued calls from Anne (who angrily leaves him, confirming his friends' suspicions of her infidelity) and Lumbergh (who was expecting Peter to work over the weekend). Peter announces that he will simply not go to work anymore, instead pursuing his lifelong dream of "doing nothing". He finds himself finally relaxed enough to ask out Joanna, a waitress who shares Peter's loathing of idiotic management and love of the television program Kung Fu. Joanna works at Chotchkie's, a restaurant that plays on T.G.I. Friday's interior decoration and uniform standards (Joanna's frustration with her occupation eventually culminates in an argument with her boss and her dismissal after she gives him the finger in front of some customers).

Peter begins removing items at work that annoy him (a door handle that had shocked him on previous occasions, corporate slogan banners, a wall of his cubicle that blocks his view of the windows) and parks in Lumbergh's reserved parking spot. Despite Peter's poor attendance record, laziness, and insubordination, he is promoted by the consultants because of the positive impression he makes on them with his bluntness about the office's problems (specifically the overabundance of management).

Meanwhile, Michael and Samir are downsized. To exact revenge on Initech, the three friends, inspired by Richard Pryor's character from Superman III, decide to infect the accounting system with a computer virus, designed to divert fractions of pennies into a bank account they control. They believe the scheme to be foolproof because they think that over a long period of time they will be able to accumulate a substantial amount of money in units so small (mills) that companies generally don't bother keeping track of them. On their last day at Initech, Peter also steals a parting gift from the office: a frequently-malfunctioning laser printer, which the three beat to pieces in a field.

A misplaced decimal point causes the virus to steal over $300,000 in the first few days, a far more conspicuous loss to Initech. After a crisis of conscience and a discussion with Joanna, Peter writes a letter in which he takes all the blame for the crime, then slips an envelope containing the letter and the money (in unsigned traveler's checks) under the door of Lumbergh's office late at night. The next morning, Milton – having been deprived of his cherished red Swingline stapler by Lumbergh, forced to move to the cockroach-infested basement, and having had his paychecks finally cut off – enters Lumbergh's office to reclaim his stapler. Peter, fully expecting to be arrested when he comes in to work, finds that his problem has solved itself: as he nears the Initech building, he can see that it is fully engulfed in flames and that all evidence of the missing money must have been destroyed.

Peter finally finds a job that he likes: doing construction work with his next-door neighbor, Lawrence. As the two of them are cleaning up debris from the fire, Samir and Michael visit Peter and offer to recommend him for a job at Initech rival Intertrode, where they have gotten new jobs. He declines, expressing newfound contentment with his place in life. Shortly before Samir and Michael arrive, Peter discovers Milton's stapler among the wreckage and saves it, saying, "I think I know someone who might want this."

The last scene reveals the fate of the missing money: Milton is seen lounging on the beach at a fancy Mexican resort, mumbling complaints about his beverage, and threatening to take his traveler's checks to a competitor.