Over the last few years, the media has been weighing in on workplace design trends with articles like “The Open-Office Concept Is Dead” (Fortune magazine) and op-eds like “Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace” (Washington Post). Unless you’ve been living under a rock, then you know these authors who may not be as embedded in our industry aren’t necessarily wrong: Research conducted and presented by office furniture manufacturers and major design firms like Gensler has suggested that open plans can actually impede productivity and employee well-being but they also point to possible solutions such as hybrid offices, where there’s compromise between open-office plans, casual lounge areas and privacy zones.
Business Casual: Creating Workplaces That Foster Productivity