I work in what might as well be an open plan: I share an office with three other people, and the desks are arranged so none of us have our backs to the wall (at

I work in what might as well be an open plan: I share an office with three other people, and the desks are arranged so none of us have our backs to the wall (at least I get a really nice view of a highway out of the deal, though). The whole company is set up like this, with every 3-4 employees grouped into large offices. It could be worse because I get along with my officemates, but it's easily the worst office arrangement I've been part of. The vulnerability of not having my back to the wall seriously gets to me, and it can get really, really annoying when multiple conversations are taking place at the same time. One of my officemates wears headphones 90% of the time specifically because of this. Before this job, I've worked in cubes, I've had my own office, and I've shared an office with one other. Of all those, I preferred sharing an office with one other, with desks arranged so our backs are to the wall. I had some degree of privacy, but I'm not totally isolated from other people.