The schools in our area are in the final phases of remodeling, getting rid of the open floor plan layout that was in vogue when many of the schools were built, and was such a disaster. Nice to see taxpayer money hard at work. It's funny that a business as reactionary as the education system seems to have learned this lesson but tech companies haven't.
German universiteties in Munich, Dresden and probably elsewhere have separate rooms for the staff. Usually 2-4 persons per room. It’s really nice and productive. Later I found similar setting during interview at Viavi Solutions. All other bigger enterprises had open space offices. Some with cubicles, some with glas walls and some with tables only.
Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
101–110 of 356 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Noise cancelling headphones will cancel low frequency sounds like fans / AC, but not high frequency ones like talking and phones.
My Bose Quiet Comfort 20 in-ears are excellent for machine noises like air conditioners in server rooms or traffic drone but terrible for voices or radio.
A constant background noise is unpleasant but not so distracting - and it gets filtered out.
Sudden voices are way more distracting and they don't get filtered out. On the contrary, they stand out even more once machine noises are filtered out.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#103Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#104Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#105why not just find remote work positions and set your own environment?
I mostly remote work and love it. But it's not for everybody. It involves: - being able to motivate yourself; - being disciplined; - being autonomous; - being capable to communicate efficiently asynchronously, with time and space constrains on limiting medium; - accepting less social time; - juggling private and pro time/space. Which includes your friends and family. My GF still hasn't get used to the fact that when…
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
Use noise cancelling headphones. They shut out the world with a bit of quiet music. I love my qc35. Doesn't fix the primary issue, but makes it more bearable.
> noise cancelling headphones They are very ineffective against voices! Passive insulating headphones are much better.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#107I work for Viasat; all of our new-build offices in the past few years have been designed around what we call the neighborhood concept. A neighborhood is a set of individual offices (maybe 60sqft-ish?) with three solid walls, and one glass/wood wall with a sliding door. All the offices open into a central room that can be outfitted in a bunch of different ways. There are neighborhoods of different sizes, and basically…
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#108Never understood the rationale behind open floor offices. I currently work in a cubicle set up, and people set up war rooms anytime they want close collaboration. Open offices seem to take this exceptional case and make it the norm. At the same time open floor offices cause a lot of trouble to people in non-exception situations.
You can have an appealing environment to work in for 5-15 and within the same space scale that up all the way to an 80 person battery farm office without spending any more money.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#109Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#110In the first case, I was the only remote employee in my business unit. I was hired because I had a high level of competency with a technology they were investing heavily in. When I first interviewed, they told me that the were only considering on-site, and that my rate was too high. So, they first hired an on-site employee at a lower rate, but he failed to deliver a working installation and the project got perilously behind schedule. When I re-approached them about two months later they were no longer hung up on my rate or request to work remote. It's worth noting that I took a gamble here and put in about 6 or 8 hours interview and follow-up process, after being told that remote was not an option, and then being given the initial "no". During the project, I did stop by their Silicon Valley campus for a few hours of meetings every month or two, which was probably 1% or less of my total billable hours.
In my current engagement, my entire team is remote, so it was a non-issue. The gig was secured for me by a recruiter who had previously contacted me about an on-site position, and I told her I was only considering remote (and followed up periodically).
Both of these positions had multiple technical screens which were very rigorous. Both resulted from initial contacts where I was given at least one "no". You can have a private office at any company if you negotiate for remote and set yourself up with the office you like (e.g. home, co-working, etc.)