To be fair, a good set of noise-cancelling headphones is at least $349 (the Sony WH1000XM4s) and developers need them to focus in an open-plan environment. One

To be fair, a good set of noise-cancelling headphones is at least $349 (the Sony WH1000XM4s) and developers need them to focus in an open-plan environment. One place I worked at was _SUPER_ cool about this and gave everyone (developers or not) a pair of Bose QC35s. When I used them in NC mode, I had a post-it on my back telling people that I was unavailable when my headphones were in. It was awkward, but it worked! (I had to return them when I left said company, but it was still super cool of them to give them out.)