More companies are remodeling offices to incorporate open-plan layouts in an effort to save money and encourage collaboration, though many employees complain that the setup eliminates privacy and makes it hard to concentrate. Here are the pros and cons of open-plan offices:
PROS
- Replaces unsightly cubicles with resplendent rows of particle-board desks
- Increases employee innovation in finding ways to drown out coworkers
- Cheaper overhead than office that people would enjoy working in
- Removes barriers separating employees from their boss except for financial, social, and generational ones
- Can cram couple more people in between Megan and Steve
- Comfort in knowing your cold germs will spare no one
- Other companies doing it
CONS
- Have to hang your coat in communal closet like a savage
- Glaring diversity problem right out in the open
- Reserving conference room necessary to punch hole through wall
- Having dozens of separate conversations occurring around you simultaneously may be somewhat distracting
- Nowhere to hang inverted cross
- Look on parents’ faces when you show them your desk
- Makes it easier to get to know your coworkers