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Will Covid-19 help end the open office floor plan era?

12 points by sfpwork ↗ HN
With more organizations likely moving to permanent WFH arrangements, more abundant office real estate, and the risks of cramming too many people in a small space for several hours per day, will we see a return of the individual offices? Or something in-between?

I'm a declared WFH proponent but a private (or lightly shared) office could go a long way into making co-located work tolerable.

5 comments

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Foober223
Yes. I think the driving force behind the open office is to save money.

If a company allows a high % of workers to work from home, it can more easily afford less-efficient layouts. With private walled offices. It's easier to give 20 on site employees an office than 200. If all 200 employees are on site.... get ready for some custom construction to give everyone a private office. $$$!!!

crazcarl
Many people hate open offices but continue to take jobs where they will be working in an open office. Until companies can directly see the open office setup as a detriment to hiring or retention, companies will continue to utilize them to save money.

I don't expect to see them disappear completely anytime soon.

hckr1292
Would you ever turn down a job because of the office layout? I'm not sure if I would, and also not sure what jobs are out there where I could have my own office.
sfpwork
Absolutely would unless this was the only offer on the table. I suspect I'm not the only person who took a paycut to move to a WFH job.

I'm not suggesting covid-19 is just an excuse to eradicate open offices. I really think it poses a health risk in the world going forward, now that we have witnessed what a pandemic means.

potta_coffee
I would if I could but I can't afford to be that picky.