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Is the open office layout dead?

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Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#71

Post by concede_pluto »

closeparen wrote: post #59
gerbilly wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really, citation please? I see companies was so much money all over the place that it's a bit hard to believe that assigned desks would be such a hardship for them.

Don't know of anything public. At my company, we have ~5' slices of long communal tables. The figure I got from one of our facilities people two years ago was that these cost $20,000/year each. I'm sure the market is up since then, but I don't know how far. I think you could fit about four of these workstations into one of our conference rooms. So giving people private offices the size of our conference rooms (any sm…

Office pods seem to be less than $10k, why can't we get those rather than five-foot slices of purgatory?

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#72

Post by sleet »

giaour wrote: post #40
sleet wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A large screen typically isn't a problem. The office I work in has a number of the options mentioned - privacy pods, and a mixture of zoning and some dedicated desks. All the work spaces have nice monitors but you'll need to bring your own ergonomic keyboard and mouse.

That sounds incredibly unfriendly to differently abled employees. What if you need a desk that is significantly taller or shorter than normal? What if you need a non-traditional keyboard while recovering from surgery?

The desks can adjust in height. Also everyone is welcome to have a permanent desk if they prefer which can be customized to their desires. People bring their own keyboard.

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#73

Post by closeparen »

concede_pluto wrote: post #71
closeparen wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't know of anything public. At my company, we have ~5' slices of long communal tables. The figure I got from one of our facilities people two years ago was that these cost $20,000/year each. I'm sure the market is up since then, but I don't know how far. I think you could fit about four of these workstations into one of our conference rooms. So giving people private offices the size of our conference rooms (any sm…

Office pods seem to be less than $10k, why can't we get those rather than five-foot slices of purgatory?

Probably because the area to pull out your chair wouldn't double as a hallway to access other people's desks anymore. The walls aren't what's at a premium, the floor space is.

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#77

Post by junkculture »

briandear wrote: post #65
oldandtired wrote: post #30

As long as an office is considered a status symbol by management, then the open plan environment will stay. In a general sense, offices for any reason related to productivity is a non-starter today (has been so for a number of decades). Offices are considered a reward for climbing the hierarchy not for actual work by the plebs (you know, those who would actually need it or benefit from it for work purposes). And cert…

Unless you’re at Apple where everyone seems to have a private office with a locking door.

Used to. Their new flying saucer is open office.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/201...

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#78

Post by nkkollaw »

Clubber wrote: post #74
briandear wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s correct. Everyone has a private office.

I believe I read their new campus, the spaceship, is open floor plan.

I've seen this picture from Wired: http://creativebits.org/sites/default/files/applrend7.jpg (source: http://creativebits.org/inside_apples_spaceship_headquarters)

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#79

Post by toomanybeersies »

davb wrote: post #7

> No designated desks I hate hot desking. I know it's very subjective but when I come into an office for eight hours a day, five days a week, I like to personalise my workspace. I don't drive, I take public transport and walk, and hate carting my laptop and charger around with me. I want my own space, with meeting rooms and collaboration spaces for when I need those things. I may be alone in saying so, but I'd happil…

It's funny, I work in a coworking space, and we technically have hot desks, but everyone always ends up sitting in the same place every day. It really throws me if someone takes my seat, usually it's someone new, who hasn't figured out the seating plan yet.

It's almost like high school, where you don't have a designated lunch table, but you always sit at the same table. Or at least that's what the movies show, we didn't have a cafeteria.

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#80

Post by sakabasataka »

Did anyone ever actually believe this nonsense about open offices "fostering creative and egalitarian work environments"? Ive worked in my share of open office environments and not once was there even any pretense of high ideals behind it. It was pretty much "yep, we're a startup/penny-pinching corp and we're not going to spend a nickel more on office space than we have to". And so open office it is.
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