Though about 70 percent of U.S. workplaces have open office floor plans, numerous studies have shown that employees who work in offices with no or low partitions suffer increased stress from lack of privacy and disrupted concentration — which ultimately decreases worker productivity overall.
Should the open office layout be reconsidered? Is it time to bring back the cubicles and the corner offices?
Responses:
A First-Generation Problem
Michael Useem, Center for Leadership and Change Management at the Wharton School
Let Employees Decide
Nikil Saval, author, "Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace"
Sharing Sunlight, Not Insanity
Susan Cain, author, "Quiet"
Balance Proximity and Privacy
Anne-Laure Fayard, New York University School of Engineering
The Problem Isn't Openness, It's Noise
Adam Stoltz, architectural consultant
