4 ms·

Like all big companies your experience depends more on your group than the company as a whole. I've got a number of friends at MSFT in various tech roles, some

Like all big companies your experience depends more on your group than the company as a whole. I've got a number of friends at MSFT in various tech roles, some have their own office as a developer, some are in a cube or open floor environment. My personal experience, having worked on a few skunkworks projects over there with a couple of different teams was that there were two people to an office that was probably originally designed for one. It was a bit cozy in there for my liking but it wasn't cramped, it was quiet, and a couple of people could stand in various parts of common areas and have an actual 'stand up' collaboration. It actually seemed very collegiate. I recognize the fact that since it was an R&D group they probably had better accommodations for this type of stuff, and that they were in an 'old' building that had these personal offices probably helped too.

UK-AL 10y ago
They've gotten rid off the office per developer thing now. So not surprised. A large part is probably demographics of developers is now changing.
- dpark 10y ago
  It's not entirely gone but it's dying. I'm still in a private office. Lots of devs on my team are doubled up, though. Many teams have already moved to open spaces. Demographics are a factor. Lots of devs, especially younger devs, and especially devs who've worked at other younger companies are asking for open floor plans. Not all of them, but a sizable chunk. That plus reduced cost for providing office space to devs is pushing the company in the direction of open office spaces. I haven't seen a building get significantly renovated and not end up with open spaces.
  - Camillo 10y ago
    They are asking for open floor plans? Is there anything young people won't ruin?
    - venomsnake 10y ago
      Open floor plan is great way to have life-life balance and not do any meaningful work.
    - morgante 10y ago
      I'm skeptical of the claim and suspect it might be (yet another) case of an older developer blaming young people for things. None of my friends (all in their 20s) prefer open offices.
      - dpark 10y ago
        Meanwhile you've got widowlark (who graduated in the past couple of years based on some brief online stalking) acting shocked that anyone would want a private office. I'm also not sure how old you think I am. I'm 34, not 74.
        morgante 10y ago
        Be careful of all the stereotyping though. I'm 23, have heard of Extreme Programming, and absolutely want my own private office (and, failing that, a silent shared work space).
        dpark 10y ago
        Sure. I don't think all younger programmers want open spaces just as I don't think all older programmers want private offices. I have interviewed quite a few younger devs, though, who asked about the office situation and expressed either no preference or a preference for open spaces. I feel like I've seen this less with older candidates. This is clearly anecdotal though.
      - nojvek 10y ago
        I prefer open spaces. Mostly due to sunlight and the social interaction. It feels more collaborative. Although I should say our whole team works 1-2 days from home. Different people, different days and we're very okay with that. We also like to leave developers who have headphones alone and only talk to them over skype/slack.
  - mynameisvlad 10y ago
    There's been plenty of renovations without removing private offices, but it's mainly paint and carpeting with redone common spaces (kitchen, copy/mail rooms and bathrooms). See 8/9/10/26/27/28 which all were done fairly recently. It doesn't make sense to gut the interior just to make a slightly different private office configuration, so it probably isn't considered a "significant" renovation.
  - KirinDave 10y ago
    I think companies should try and support both modes of working. Open Plan offices are okay for some people but completely unacceptable for other people. Neruodiversity is a real thing that we should be thinking about.
  - Locke1689 10y ago
    My building is currently undergoing a renovation and we still have private offices. To support your point: a number of people have voluntarily taken over a former conference room to turn it into an open space office. Personally I have worked in both and don't find one better or worse than the other. I actually value sunlight, direct or indirect, more than the layout.
    - caleblloyd 10y ago
      Amen to sunlight! Why is that such a hard thing for companies to understand?
mikestew 10y ago
Like all big companies your experience depends more on your group than the company as a whole. I've got a number of friends at MSFT in various tech roles, some have their own office as a developer, some are in a cube or open floor environment. Note that the post you're replying to uses the past tense. The vast majority of my tenure at MSFT was in a private office, but that was over ten years ago. It is my understanding that things have changed since.
- jdp23 10y ago
  Exactly. This was a key part of company culture throughout the 80s and 90s and at the time it was viewed as a signficant productivity win. ('Peopleware' discusses it, IIRC). By the 2000s, with space crunches, they got away from it as a general policy.
- erentz 10y ago
  As of 6 months ago when I was still there we had an office per two engineers. They were changing in other parts of the org to open plan as buildings were being updated. Which is a sad reversal.

UK-AL 10y ago

They've gotten rid off the office per developer thing now. So not surprised. A large part is probably demographics of developers is now changing.

dpark 10y ago
It's not entirely gone but it's dying. I'm still in a private office. Lots of devs on my team are doubled up, though. Many teams have already moved to open spaces. Demographics are a factor. Lots of devs, especially younger devs, and especially devs who've worked at other younger companies are asking for open floor plans. Not all of them, but a sizable chunk. That plus reduced cost for providing office space to devs is pushing the company in the direction of open office spaces. I haven't seen a building get significantly renovated and not end up with open spaces.
- Camillo 10y ago
  They are asking for open floor plans? Is there anything young people won't ruin?
  - venomsnake 10y ago
    Open floor plan is great way to have life-life balance and not do any meaningful work.
  - morgante 10y ago
    I'm skeptical of the claim and suspect it might be (yet another) case of an older developer blaming young people for things. None of my friends (all in their 20s) prefer open offices.
    - dpark 10y ago
      Meanwhile you've got widowlark (who graduated in the past couple of years based on some brief online stalking) acting shocked that anyone would want a private office. I'm also not sure how old you think I am. I'm 34, not 74.
      - morgante 10y ago
        Be careful of all the stereotyping though. I'm 23, have heard of Extreme Programming, and absolutely want my own private office (and, failing that, a silent shared work space).
        dpark 10y ago
        Sure. I don't think all younger programmers want open spaces just as I don't think all older programmers want private offices. I have interviewed quite a few younger devs, though, who asked about the office situation and expressed either no preference or a preference for open spaces. I feel like I've seen this less with older candidates. This is clearly anecdotal though.
    - nojvek 10y ago
      I prefer open spaces. Mostly due to sunlight and the social interaction. It feels more collaborative. Although I should say our whole team works 1-2 days from home. Different people, different days and we're very okay with that. We also like to leave developers who have headphones alone and only talk to them over skype/slack.
- mynameisvlad 10y ago
  There's been plenty of renovations without removing private offices, but it's mainly paint and carpeting with redone common spaces (kitchen, copy/mail rooms and bathrooms). See 8/9/10/26/27/28 which all were done fairly recently. It doesn't make sense to gut the interior just to make a slightly different private office configuration, so it probably isn't considered a "significant" renovation.
- KirinDave 10y ago
  I think companies should try and support both modes of working. Open Plan offices are okay for some people but completely unacceptable for other people. Neruodiversity is a real thing that we should be thinking about.
- Locke1689 10y ago
  My building is currently undergoing a renovation and we still have private offices. To support your point: a number of people have voluntarily taken over a former conference room to turn it into an open space office. Personally I have worked in both and don't find one better or worse than the other. I actually value sunlight, direct or indirect, more than the layout.
  - caleblloyd 10y ago
    Amen to sunlight! Why is that such a hard thing for companies to understand?

mikestew 10y ago

Like all big companies your experience depends more on your group than the company as a whole. I've got a number of friends at MSFT in various tech roles, some have their own office as a developer, some are in a cube or open floor environment. Note that the post you're replying to uses the past tense. The vast majority of my tenure at MSFT was in a private office, but that was over ten years ago. It is my understanding that things have changed since.

jdp23 10y ago
Exactly. This was a key part of company culture throughout the 80s and 90s and at the time it was viewed as a signficant productivity win. ('Peopleware' discusses it, IIRC). By the 2000s, with space crunches, they got away from it as a general policy.
erentz 10y ago
As of 6 months ago when I was still there we had an office per two engineers. They were changing in other parts of the org to open plan as buildings were being updated. Which is a sad reversal.