[dirtnugget]

German here. I absolutely loathe the formal form. It can be compared to using "Sir" with your superiors. While it is super common to address people informally in younger IT companies, in more traditional ones it is mostly informal.

If they talk formal, run. It's most likely a shithole.

This level of formality between people I find very patriarchal and outdated. Also, with people you just met it becomes somewhat awkward to always ask for which formality to use. English is doing very well without it.

[namibj]

When meeting new people, it's actually a pretty good indication of whether the interaction is strictly business, or might include off-topic conversations.