This article is from 2018 and gets posted pretty regularly. I happen to agree with its core thesis but I'm not sure we get anything out of having it on the front page again.
Good point - I stumbled on the article again and decided to post it. It already has ~20 comments, and it's on the front page. My take is that even if the article is not the best on the topic, the conversation about it is happening.
I don't think there's an article out there that I would consider far superior to this. If there is, please post it, I'd upvote it in a heartbeat.
Context: I mostly work remote (a combination of luck, laziness, and my ability to ask for things I really want), but every time I have to be in the office (like today, leaving home in ~30 minutes), I have a weird, unpleasant feeling.
I know I don't like open floor plans.
I particularly don't like that people walking behind me can see my monitor.
I don't like that I can't take calls without disturbing others. Or that getting a private room to talk or make a video call is difficult.
Yesterday, for example, I had to leave a room where I was having a call because someone else had booked it, but I needed to extend the call by another ~15 minutes, so I ended up finishing it in the corridors next to the restrooms.
And mind you, I work with (not for) a great firm, people are super nice - but nobody seems to fully understand how toxic an open office space can be for people.
Finally, I also don't like that startups trying to partially solving these problems are getting funded like crazy, based on a relatively crappy product [0] and an expensive price tag.
Mostly I think every posting offers those stuck in open plan offices a chance to vent and to realise that the layout is objectivly awful.
Knowing that so many others feel the same way and that the terrible experience isn't due to your own (weak! distracted! worthless!) personality is certainly worth something.
