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It's really a problem my employer is inflicting on themselves. I've had my own office and worked in an open space. I feel I'm vastly more productive behind a cl

It's really a problem my employer is inflicting on themselves. I've had my own office and worked in an open space. I feel I'm vastly more productive behind a closed door. At the end of the day, my employer pays full price for my productivity and I deliver the fraction of it I can come up with in an open office. I also make small talk with coworkers and dial in to meetings from my desk and complain about the open office at every opportunity.

deathanatos 8y ago
The productivity hit, sure. But[1], > A systematic survey of research upon the effects of open-plan offices found frequent negative effects in some traditional workplaces: high levels of noise, stress, conflict, high blood pressure and a high staff turnover. The blood pressure and stress likely translate into the non-work portions of your life. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_plan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_plan
- yellowapple 8y ago
  You're assuming that employers actually care about your well-being :)
  - deathanatos 8y ago
    They don't have to care about their workers in this case. Studies also say that such work environments are also hugely detrimental to both employee retention and productivity, and health. Corporations have incredibly difficultly a. not following short term fads (Facebook did this so it must be good) and b. not trading long-term losses (productivity, sickness, retention) for short-term gains (less real-estate == cheaper) that get outweighed by those losses.
anigbrowl 8y ago
my employer pays full price for my productivity This implies your employer negotiated a price for what you imagined was the limit of your productivity, and is getting somewhat less than that. But your employer knew all about working conditions and their impact on productivity when they hired you. Have you considered the possibility that their offer was based on a much lower expectation of what you would deliver than your imagination of what you could deliver?

deathanatos 8y ago

The productivity hit, sure. But[1], > A systematic survey of research upon the effects of open-plan offices found frequent negative effects in some traditional workplaces: high levels of noise, stress, conflict, high blood pressure and a high staff turnover. The blood pressure and stress likely translate into the non-work portions of your life. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_plan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_plan

yellowapple 8y ago
You're assuming that employers actually care about your well-being :)
- deathanatos 8y ago
  They don't have to care about their workers in this case. Studies also say that such work environments are also hugely detrimental to both employee retention and productivity, and health. Corporations have incredibly difficultly a. not following short term fads (Facebook did this so it must be good) and b. not trading long-term losses (productivity, sickness, retention) for short-term gains (less real-estate == cheaper) that get outweighed by those losses.

anigbrowl 8y ago

my employer pays full price for my productivity This implies your employer negotiated a price for what you imagined was the limit of your productivity, and is getting somewhat less than that. But your employer knew all about working conditions and their impact on productivity when they hired you. Have you considered the possibility that their offer was based on a much lower expectation of what you would deliver than your imagination of what you could deliver?