It was cool for companies to copy young, exciting tech startups that had open offices because they also want to be innovative. This was the trend in the early 2010s and now open spaces are the norm. But the problem is, most companies aren't young and exciting startups. Even startups, at some point, aren't young and exciting anymore.
Cubicles were there for a reason. It gave people just enough privacy where they feel comfortable but still allowed anyone to walk over and talk to them.
I remember my first jobs at tech companies in Silicon Valley were all cubicles. Then I started working for "hip" tech startups that had open space plans. It was certainly a drastic decline in comfort level.
Like what the research shows, people create ways to gain more privacy in an open space. Headphones, moving to some common space such as the kitchen to do work, WFH more, etc. No one likes to be looked at all the time. It's a bit like having a Zoom meeting with the cameras on for 8 hours/day. Clearly, people do not feel comfortable in an open space while in the office.
At a certain size, you've got to get cubicles. Yes, it's probably more collaborative when it was just the founders hacking away in a single room office without any walls. But as you grow, more eyeballs can see you, more noise propagate in the office, and people are hired for more specialized roles that do not need constant collaboration and feedback from everyone around the desk.
Bring back cubicles. Even if it's not perfect, it's still better than open space.
If a young and exciting startup advertises that they use cubicles, then I see them more favorably. Especially if they explain that they follow research showing open floor plans suck. This means the startup is at least listening.
Building on my original comment that spawned this post (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36883436), I am amazed by how much devs hate open space and still most tech companies just decide to ignore that. For instance, at Amazon we had a yearly and a weekly feedback tool which had questions around things that impact morale and productivity. In the half a decade I was there, not once did I see a question around open office spaces.
Maybe they are waiting for all the devs to sign a petition to "Bring back cubicles. Even if it's not perfect, it's still better than open space."
It was cool for companies to copy young, exciting tech startups that had open offices because they also want to be innovative. This was the trend in the early 2010s and now open spaces are the norm. But the problem is, most companies aren't young and exciting startups. Even startups, at some point, aren't young and exciting anymore.
Cubicles were there for a reason. It gave people just enough privacy where they feel comfortable but still allowed anyone to walk over and talk to them.
I remember my first jobs at tech companies in Silicon Valley were all cubicles. Then I started working for "hip" tech startups that had open space plans. It was certainly a drastic decline in comfort level.
Like what the research shows, people create ways to gain more privacy in an open space. Headphones, moving to some common space such as the kitchen to do work, WFH more, etc. No one likes to be looked at all the time. It's a bit like having a Zoom meeting with the cameras on for 8 hours/day. Clearly, people do not feel comfortable in an open space while in the office.
At a certain size, you've got to get cubicles. Yes, it's probably more collaborative when it was just the founders hacking away in a single room office without any walls. But as you grow, more eyeballs can see you, more noise propagate in the office, and people are hired for more specialized roles that do not need constant collaboration and feedback from everyone around the desk.
Bring back cubicles. Even if it's not perfect, it's still better than open space.
If a young and exciting startup advertises that they use cubicles, then I see them more favorably. Especially if they explain that they follow research showing open floor plans suck. This means the startup is at least listening.