It makes sense why so many people have an aversion to open office plans, but the point of them is not optimization of individual productivity. Some of the stat

It makes sense why so many people have an aversion to open office plans, but the point of them is not optimization of individual productivity. Some of the stated reasons for open plans are collaboration, cost savings, sense of team, etc... Whether or not those are valid metrics which are actually improved by open plan layouts is a different question than a single employee's perception of them. When discussing private or semi-private office plans there are still some important things to consider. One that would be important to me is access to natural light which is greatly reduced by walls or cubicles. Another that would be important to employers would be the modularity of an office. Fixed walls are a huge nuisance and costly to adjust with any company growth.