It's much simpler than that: open offices require less space, which saves on rent. The latest fad is hot-desking, which shrinks the required space by a further

It's much simpler than that: open offices require less space, which saves on rent. The latest fad is hot-desking, which shrinks the required space by a further 20% by noticing that only about 80% of employees are actually in the office at any moment in time on average. Of course, when occupancy is above average, everyone gets to play musical chairs, which is fun!