The Cubicle is Making a Comeback

The days of the offices with "open floor plans" might be drawing to a close!

Over the past decade the push was to open up the office work space to allow co-workers to see everyone you work with, not just the inside of your own cubicle.

The thought process behind that move was that it would allow co-workers to communicate more easily, help boost creativity, make it easier to collaborate and increase productivity, so you'd be able to turn-out your TPS reports faster.

But as Bill Lumbergh from the movie "Office Space" would say, "Ah, yeah, that didn't work so well. We're gonna need you to move back to a cube."

More and more research indicates that getting rid of cubicles doesn't necessary make you a better employee. In fact, according to the study the exact opposite starts to happen.

A survey of more than 2,000 office workers revealed, there's been a decrease in productivity in offices with "open floor plans" since 2008. The main problem, all that open space provides too many distractions and makes it hard to focus. Employee’s eyes are constantly drifting around to see what's going on around them.

31% of the people surveyed said they were not satisfied with their job when they had a difficult time focusing. Three out of four individuals said the "open floor plan" in their office is not "optimal" for getting work done.

Also, employees working in offices with open floor plans take 62% more sick days each year.

Which immediately causes the Bob Porter (aka "one of the Bob's") from the movie "Office Space" in your office to say, "Looks like you've been missing a lot of work lately?" 

I wouldn't say "I've been missing it" Bob!