3 ms·
Open plan offices are basically terrible in every way
- awinter-py 10y ago> Occupants sharing an office and occupants in open-plan offices (>6 occupants) had significantly more days of sickness absence than occupants in cellular offices. I hate open plan offices more than anything but this isn't a good argument; if I'm more effective when working remotely, then taking days off is potentially good. It takes more research to relate this one-liner back to productivity or creativity (whichever metric you prefer). Love the link to the sartre deep-dive.
- slededit 10y agoI wouldn't equate sick days with "taking days off" in the colloquial sense; Assuming those sick days are due to legitimate illness. A day spent at home due to a fever is not equivalent to a vacation day, and I can't imagine anyone would say its a "good thing". If it was about vacation days then I think I'd agree with you.
- mbfg 10y agowell, in every way but cost
- slededit 10y agoEngineers are so expensive that even minor losses in productivity will vastly outstrip most other costs. Payroll is almost always the biggest line item on the P&L yet very few companies measure how their employees spend their time.
- michaelmior 10y agoWhat about people who enjoy open plan offices and find them to be more productive? These people do exist. Sure for some teams open plan offices are a bad idea. However, this sounds like someone who doesn't enjoy this environment (perfectly reasonable) coming up with arguments why no one should do it.