Some people complain about their office chairs. Others spend their workdays standing on steel beams hundreds of feet above traffic, cleaning windows outside skyscrapers, or climbing structures that most of us would rather admire from the sidewalk. Working at extreme heights is nothing new, either. Vintage photographs show construction crews balancing on unfinished buildings long before modern safety equipment became standard. Today’s workers have better gear, but their offices can still look pretty terrifying. And somehow, plenty of them seem perfectly comfortable up there. These 15 photos capture people doing their jobs at heights that would make most of us reconsider our career choices.Wikimedia CommonsThe Chrysler Building Had Some Brave WorkersConstruction workers wave from the steel framework of New York’s Chrysler Building in 1929, while the skyscraper is still taking shape.RedditCleaning Windows Was Never a Desk JobWindow cleaners work along the outside of the World Trade Center in a 1979 photograph, with the city visible far below.RedditJust Another Day Outside the OfficeA New York window cleaner works outside a high-rise building in a photograph shared as dating from 1950.Wikimedia CommonsRadio Tower Maintenance Was Pretty IntenseWorkers inspect the metal framework of a radio tower in Königs Wusterhausen, Germany, in 1930, reportedly standing 280 meters above the ground.RedditWindow Washing, 1958 EditionA photograph identified as New York City in 1958 shows window cleaners working outside a building on East 48th Street.Taking Five Above the WaterConstruction workers pause high on the steel structure of Auckland Harbour Bridge in a photograph dated 1959.RedditSeattle’s Most Terrifying Office ViewAn ironworker poses high above Seattle in a photograph shared as dating from 1980, with the city stretching out below.Wikimedia Commons / Lewis HineExperience Came With a Serious ViewA construction worker sits high on the steel framework of the Empire State Building in 1930, photographed by Lewis Hine during its construction.Twelve Stories Up and Still WorkingA construction worker installs metal framing on Portland’s HollywoodHUB housing development in January 2026, surrounded by the building’s unfinished structure.RedditThe Empire State Building Needs Maintenance TooA photograph shows maintenance workers on top of the Empire State Building, surrounded by the tower’s upper structure.Wikimedia CommonsLunch With a Serious ViewConstruction workers sit along a steel beam during a 1932 publicity photo shoot at Rockefeller Center, eating lunch with Manhattan spread out beneath them.RedditChicago’s Highest Window Cleaning JobA window cleaner works outside Chicago’s Lake Point Tower in March 2025, with low clouds partially obscuring the building.RedditThe View From 57 Stories UpA former window cleaner shared a photograph taken from a suspended scaffold 57 stories above the ground, showing the view from the job.RedditWelding While Hanging From RopesA rope access technician shared a photograph of himself welding while suspended by ropes, with his equipment attached to the structure.RedditEven the Photographer Had to Get Up ThereA photograph shows a photographer positioned high on the steelwork during the famous 1932 Rockefeller Center construction shoot.The post 15 Vintage Photos Where Work Life ‘Balance’ is Literal appeared first on Den of Geek.