Authors
Anna Mariia Filippova1; Daria Shubina1; Anna Baryshnikova1; 1 Center for Advanced Governance, Russian Federation Discussion
In 2019, a number of Russian governmental bodies (more than 5 thousand employees in total) were relocated to the United Governmental Office (UGO), based in Moscow city business center. This moving meant not only change in how the workplace of civil servants was organised but also a major symbolic shift in organisational structure of moved governmental bodies. Civil servants used to work in small offices and corridors, located in historic buildings while their new workplaces were organised in openspaces and located in business area. Drawing on qualitative data, we employ the Sewell’s (1992) understanding of culture as composed of schemas, which are virtual, and of resources, which are actual, to explain how the new working environment changes the way civil service operates. 
