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Is the open office layout dead?

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Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#151

Post by latkin »

mikekchar wrote: post #106
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.

I'm lazy today, so I just grabbed this article which describes office space in the bay area for startups [0]. Their talking all the way up to about $70 per square foot. Peopleware says 100 sq ft per person, so that's up to about $700 per month per employee (or $8400). I honestly don't think that's crazy money, but you also have to plan for growth. This makes things a lot harder. If you think you are going to grow fro…

> Their [sic] talking all the way up to about $70 per square foot. Peopleware says 100 sq ft per person, so that's up to about $700 per month per employee (or $8400).

$7000 per month, not $700. $84k/year.

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#152

Post by jlarocco »

emerged wrote: post #111
LambdaComplex wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about cubicles?

I would honestly rather change careers than work in a cubicle. They give me a feeling of deep existential dread. Do some actually prefer them?

Having used both, I would choose a cubicle over an open office any day. An office would be best, though.

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#153

Post by pacaro »

daxfohl wrote: post #140
tlogan wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in days, each engineer in Microsoft had a private office. Oracle too... Good days...

Some buildings in Microsoft still do. In my building, most people SDE2 level and up has their own, and below that most seem two-to-an-office (there are counterexamples on both sides though, as well as a number of empty offices). Oddly they're refurbing existing buildings to remove the private offices though. It doesn't seem like a space problem, nor a money problem. Apparently there's just a desire to get rid of them…

When I was moved from single offices to open plan (Microsoft 2012) we were told that we had asked for it(!)

But the architecture firm who designed the space did give a really good walk through of how they designed the space. All their stupid decisions had justifications. One tidbit that fell out of that was that they couldn't put more people on a floor with open plan because the width of emergency stairwells dictates the floor occupancy rating.

So we lost offices, whiteboards, bookshelves, couches, and privacy. There didn't seem to be much gain

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#154

Post by j_s »

RandomOpinion wrote: post #91
thesmallestcat wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't give them any ideas, or things will go the other way: Want an external monitor? That'll be $50/month. Access to the supply closet is $10/month.

I've happily brought equipment purchased at my own expense to work. It amortizes down to very little over the lifetime of the hardware (even a $1600 workstation laptop amounts to roughly $0.25 per hour over 3 years at 40 hours a week) and makes work so much more efficient (always a plus at performance review time) and just plain more pleasant.

For me it's been less hassle to 'Bring Your Own RAM'.

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#155

Post by abovemind »

emerged wrote: post #111
LambdaComplex wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about cubicles?

I would honestly rather change careers than work in a cubicle. They give me a feeling of deep existential dread. Do some actually prefer them?

I long for the days when I had a cubicle. I'd rather work at home now than suffer the uneasiness of lacking a private workspace.

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#156

Post by pacaro »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #97
giaour wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll also need movers on staff or on call for employees who can't move their own desks. It's a cute idea, but making it OSHA-compliant sounds expensive.

Would it really not work to just be able to ask a coworker to help with your desk if you needed that? It seems like even having a small group of volunteers be on-call for such a thing wouldn't be much of a hassle, assuming the right pieces were in place (everything plugs in through 1 power plug, desk and chair only (mount storage to desk etc))

So now you are advocating increasing the social burden for any employee who has an (possibly unknown to you or coworkers) reason for not being able to move their desk.

This is something that it is worth being a little careful about,

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#157

Post by userbinator »

jack_kc wrote: post #126
nkkollaw wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The first photo looks more like a dining room than an office. I can't imagine using a computer while sitting at one of those tables.

That looks like a cafeteria or food court in a mall. Definitely not an office.

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#158

Post by ffumarola »

latkin wrote: post #151
mikekchar wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm lazy today, so I just grabbed this article which describes office space in the bay area for startups [0]. Their talking all the way up to about $70 per square foot. Peopleware says 100 sq ft per person, so that's up to about $700 per month per employee (or $8400). I honestly don't think that's crazy money, but you also have to plan for growth. This makes things a lot harder. If you think you are going to grow fro…

> Their [sic] talking all the way up to about $70 per square foot. Peopleware says 100 sq ft per person, so that's up to about $700 per month per employee (or $8400). $7000 per month, not $700. $84k/year.

$70 is an annualized price

Re: Is the open office layout dead?

#159

Post by bousaid »

tlogan wrote: post #130
rtpg wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why cubicles are a thing though right? Obviously it doesn't have as much in terms of sound dampening effects but the cost nearly isn't as high and there's a psychological effect Though... cubicles do make it so that you're working in a "pit". So people... start wanting to remove the barriers..... and we end up in open office plans again. Hard to figure out how a smaller company can manage this (since private…

Back in days, each engineer in Microsoft had a private office. Oracle too... Good days...

I interned at Microsoft this summer and had my own office.
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