Do you prefer an Open Office or a Private Office work environment in the post Coronavirus World?


[View Poll](https://www.reddit.com/poll/i6s6xd)
[{"id": "g0xoyps", "text": "I don\u2019t know that anyone who wasn\u2019t trying to cut costs liked the open office. I hate it personally.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g0xp0o5", "text": "I don't think this question is so black and white. The type of work you do will be important context. I really believe there will be more flexibility in working from home. If you are concerned about your proximity to other people, why would you leave your home, brave public transportation, elevators, etc to work in a 'private' bubble? \n\nI think workspaces will evolve to support more collaborative and social activities, leaving focused work to be done at home.", "replies": [{"id": "g0y59qq", "text": "Agreed. I\u2019ve worked in job functions where the nature of the work was you and a spreadsheet, so being open worked very well. But if your job is one that entails being on the phone (or zoom calls) all day, you need as much separation as is feasible!", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g0xrx9t", "text": "Open office is the worst invention ever. Glad I never had to work in one.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g0xsplr", "text": "Open floor plans hurt productivity and morale.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g0xygvy", "text": "In investment side open office is GREAT when you\u2019re junior and can ask any of the guys next to you for help on figuring out a weird modeling bug / research / ideas / general camaraderie and BS. Otherwise the concept is silly once you\u2019re mid level or higher and need privacy for work and conversations.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g0y6m3c", "text": "Open office has ALWAYS sucked balls, just FYI.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g0y73dx", "text": "Open is what every company is advocating these days. First come first serve.", "replies": [{"id": "g0zpl0a", "text": "Whenever you see the word \"every\" or \"all\" it is likely a FALSE statement.  It is just false to say that \"Open is what **every** company is advocating these days.\"  That is not only false, it is FAR from being the situation, a certain percentage are Open, I would certainly guess less than 50 percent if I had to venture a guess.  And besides that has nothing to do with the question which is what do people prefer.  I come from a large nationwide company (3000 employees/contractors in one location)  that switched several departments to the \"open\" concept.  It was largely despised by the employees of these departments.  And yeah it was noisy and disruptive.  Even collaboration areas were in the open so the noise level was very high and it is hard to concentrate if you can hear actual conversations and discussions.  Morale also went down.  Plans to rollout the Open concept to other departments were put on hold and the whole concept is being re-visited.   But to answer the question that was asked about the post-covid world . . . open concept is more risky for sure.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g0ydws4", "text": "Morale Killer. Every time. Fortunate to have an office with a door that I can shut. Largest firms going to all open office and it seems to frustrated the producers.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g0ywap6", "text": "I just moved my office after surveying other recently-constructed offices.  We looked at open and private office layouts. We then surveyed our employees about what they wanted. No one wanted an open office - not one. Even the teams you\u2019d think valued collaboration. They all wanted break-out rooms so they could manage when they collaborate and when they need to focus behind a door. We cranked down the footage, so we\u2019re much less than we were before, not as little as an open office, but much less nonetheless. \n\nThe craziest thing I\u2019ve seen recently is a new CBRE corporate office using their new open floor plan. Everyone in the office (except for an HR person) has a single desk on wheels with three drawers arranged in groups of six that have two rows of three desks facing each other.  No one is assigned a desk.  They are supposed to be able to set up wherever they want every morning. So, they have to remove everything personal at the end of the day from the desk they\u2019ve been using that day and store it in lockers, because someone else could be using that desk tomorrow. There\u2019s even an admin who checks all the desks before leaving and removes anything you left and puts it in Lost &amp; Found.  No pictures. No files. No pens. Nothing can be left at the desk when you leave each day.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g102vm9", "text": "No office", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]