Peopled Out

Here's an interesting CNBC piece noting what I've heard elsewhere; open floor plans at offices help stress workers out-

While Frank Lloyd Wright introduced the open floor plan in the early 20th century, its popularity has skyrocketed in the last two decades, as companies look to promote collaboration, lower costs and create a more egalitarian environment. In 2014, 70% of companies had an open floor plan, according to the International Facility Management Association.

But rather than fostering a more united workforce, research shows that open floor spaces can actually cause social withdrawal, defeating the intended purpose. In a 2018 study, Harvard Business School researchers studied two Fortune 500 companies before and after a transition to the open floor plan.

They discovered that face-to-face time decreased by 70%, while the number of email interactions jumped by a range of 22%-50% of all interactions.Researchers said their findings could be explained by the fact that office workers eventually desire privacy and try to find it by interacting through digital rather than interpersonal means.

A Queensland University of Technology study showed 90% of employees working in offices with an open floor plan experience increased stress levels, conflict, blood pressure and turnover rates.

Emphasis added.

The Aussies nailed it. My last gig working in the ACH department of a bank which had one of those open floor plans. Stress levels-check. Blood pressure-check. Turnover rate (at least for me)- check. I can't vouch for the conflict level, but it can't help.

I wound up having anxiety attacks from sponging the emotions of my colleagues and had to move on; no one taught me how not to care for the folks around me. The work proper wasn't that stressful, but the environment was. Part of that was the get-it-done-today nature of work in the department, but the floor plan added to things in my opinion.

The piece winds up being all-but an informercial for a phone-booth-like office "pod" to give workers privacy. I could have used one of those.