My team at my last biological sciences company was on an island - literally a cluster of desks around which the rest of the company had to walk to get to the ki

My team at my last biological sciences company was on an island - literally a cluster of desks around which the rest of the company had to walk to get to the kitchen. We were subjected to by far the most "openness" of any team in that we were not anchored to windows or walls. Furthermore, we were right next to two very talkative departments. What was most distracting was when the CEO or anyone in the company can walk 2 feet behind or 5 feet in front of you while you're working. That was one of the biggest factors, other than low salary, that pushed out SO many of my team (50% turnover in the single year I was there) and lead to numerous poachings. Management did not care, however, because they simply hired new people from the pool of underemployed biological scientists. Compare that to my current post, I'm in a cubicle room with 3-5 other people, depending on their remote schedule, and its super quiet and very focused. I get a lot more hard things done now, and learn a LOT more, though my social life at work definitely took a hit.