Linked – Programmers really hate open floor plans
Facebook’s new eight acres of open-floor office space in Silicon Valley, on the other hand, is a good example of what Spolsky thinks companies should not do.
“I think Facebook was very pleased with themselves, that they had built what they thought was the ultimate, most amazing place for developers,” he said. “And if you went to Hacker News and read the comments, 99.98% of the comments said, ‘I would hate to work there.’”
It’s not just developers who hate them, but it does raise a question. Why do some many companies promote something that their employees hate? Everyone I talk to who promotes these type of office spaces talk about attracting millennials with the collaborative space, the fun spaces, the office games, and yet if you walked into those offices on any given day, there’s a large number of empty desks. Those would be the people who are elsewhere trying to get actual work done as opposed to the ones who need to be in the office to attend meetings and various other collaborative tasks. For many of us, those two things do not go together.
So, why are companies pushing this idea that everyone loves working in these spaces? The only ones who seem to benefit are the companies who use less space.
