This is what happens when a committee designs offices instead of actual employees who are down in the trenches.
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Some Apple Park Employees Said to Be Dissatisfied With Open Office Design
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Not for long they wouldn't.
Also, I'd like to think most everyone would complain... you know... about being hung and all.Apple's open office design was decided by upper management in their private offices.
Try being a programmer or being on a conference call in an open office environment.
I do it almost every day and it's distracting and frustrating as hell.
I work from home whenever they allow me to as this is when I'm the most productive. I can actually think and not be distracted by the noise and people moving around me.
I miss my cube. The walls were only 5 feet high, but it was enough to buffer noise a bit and not see people unless they came to my cube.
Our company did it to save money... pure and simple. They nearly tripled the amount of people on my floor by going open floor design.
We went from 4 people/cubes per row to 10 people per row sharing a long table. They finally capitulated and put a small partition between both sides so I wasn't staring at the guy across from me all day.
One other thing also increased after the move to an open office... the number of people getting sick at the same time.
I do it almost every day and it's distracting and frustrating as hell.
I work from home whenever they allow me to as this is when I'm the most productive. I can actually think and not be distracted by the noise and people moving around me.
I miss my cube. The walls were only 5 feet high, but it was enough to buffer noise a bit and not see people unless they came to my cube.
Our company did it to save money... pure and simple. They nearly tripled the amount of people on my floor by going open floor design.
We went from 4 people/cubes per row to 10 people per row sharing a long table. They finally capitulated and put a small partition between both sides so I wasn't staring at the guy across from me all day.
One other thing also increased after the move to an open office... the number of people getting sick at the same time.
wow those who are chiming in that the apple employees are being brats need to stop playing arm chair quarter back.
OR perhaps have a real job?
It is distracting to not have partition walls of any sort.
I went from an office to partition and it was hard for me.
You hear other conversations and people talk to you more which not always is a good thing!
OR perhaps have a real job?
It is distracting to not have partition walls of any sort.
I went from an office to partition and it was hard for me.
You hear other conversations and people talk to you more which not always is a good thing!
Why would the people working inside this ring care about how it looks from the outside?
Oh well. This is the new Apple... all about looks.
Also, I'd like to think most everyone would complain... you know... about being hung and all.
I'm hung and I don't hear any complaints ...
*drops mic*
Not for long they wouldn't.
Deleted: Nevermind, just realized my comment was a little toooo low brow
For now? So it's going _back_ in at some point? Hey, I'm not one to judge ...
I can't speak for Apple or California, but open space offices are often a way to get around taxes. Many office buildings are taxed based on filled or available offices. Going to cubes got around it in some ways (under the guise of team building and collaboration), now some companies have been going towards open offices or "hoteling". Basically there is no office space as employees just take whatever space is available. My wife's company does this....long tables with wifi hook up and a locker to keep things in for the day. And for managers trying to sell this "collaboration" line of BS, isn't it telling that all managers above some level always seem to have their own space. Funny that, don't you think?
Oh, and I call BS on that V.P. throwing a tantrum and having his own place built for his team. Unless he is working on a cure for baldness, I can't see any management team letting that sort of juvenile action and preferential treatment fly. That would be an immediate moral killer that would sow discontent faster than reducing the contributions to the 401K plan. Talk about putting a target on you and your team's back.
I don't, most of the time.
The whole thing is, Apple's new campus is NOT the best nor the nicest building in the world, it's also not really special to build as some here think, it's a big project, that's all.
We agreed with each other last time we discussed this topic.
lol
until/unless I cite an article where this thought I already had in my own head became substantiated with some concrete data, yeah I'll maintain its pulling it out of my butt
I've been in the workforce since the early 1980s, and I've had my own office only twice, for a total of two years. I've had a few cubicles, but mostly I've worked in open floor plans. So this trend has been around for a long time. I'm an introvert who has worked as a writer, editor, programmer, and web developer, so I loved those private offices. However, I managed to adapt to the open-floor-plan concept early on, because what choice did I have? It's easy to say, "Go find another job," but if most companies have open floor plans, and that's a deal breaker for you, then you've greatly reduced your employment options. I'm not defending Apple's design decision, just stating the reality of the corporate world that I've experienced for 35 years. I currently work downtown, so, in addition to the usual noise generated by coworkers, I have to deal with emergency-vehicle sirens, construction equipment from the building next door that's being gutted and renovated, street buskers (including a guy who plays bagpipes for hours at a time), and the rants of mentally ill or stoned homeless people on the sidewalk below. Yes, the noise and visual distractions can be annoying sometimes, but the vast majority of the time, I'm able to tune it out. I sympathize with the Apple employees who have to give up their private offices, but I'll be surprised if they actually start leaving in droves.
Why so much open-plan office hate?
If the office gets noisy, I just pop my headphones on. Plus having teams clustered is great for collaboration.
In my limited experience of the cellular way, offices and cubicles often make people defensive and entitled.
If the office gets noisy, I just pop my headphones on. Plus having teams clustered is great for collaboration.
In my limited experience of the cellular way, offices and cubicles often make people defensive and entitled.
I think the big point is that open is good to a degree, but it's also nice to have a private space to go back to and work, take calls, etc. I like going to Starbucks to work occasionally, but I would never want to be there all day.
I see both sides of the coin. As a software engineer myself, there are times where even the thought of people moving around just outside my workspace keeps me from properly focusing. But I've also worked in co-working spaces productively. I don't think it's an all-or-nothing situation. It really depends. I'm sure that Apple has done their research and also prepared for the need to create more secluded workspaces, should that arise.
I work in an open workspace now and I don't like it. It's false to claim that it helps with collaboration. In fact, I find it to be the opposite. There are too many distractions. Most people here put on headphones to block out others. The best collaborations result from scheduled meetings in board rooms.
Maybe in some cases, the open workspace fits and is helpful. But I find it difficult to buy into as something universal.
Leaderships like to try new things. This was the latest trend back when the campus was being planned. Knowing what I know now, I would have told them to f* off too.
Maybe in some cases, the open workspace fits and is helpful. But I find it difficult to buy into as something universal.
Leaderships like to try new things. This was the latest trend back when the campus was being planned. Knowing what I know now, I would have told them to f* off too.
A large building should be less expensive than a smaller one, on a per square foot basis, all other things being equal. Those custom-made curved windows are surely employee-facing. So are the doors that Apple insisted be made to very high fit tolerances. These non-standard architectural demands are bound to drive up construction costs. Overall I am not a fan of this building for a number of reasons, but whether these were the "right" decisions I can't pretend know. One thing I do know is that the complaints of a few can easily be magnified, which surely appears to be the case here.
This isn't really a story. I work for a company much larger than Apple and we have battled with this for years. The 'happy medium' seems to be open-plan work spaces, but with plenty of private or pseudo-private breakout areas such as work pods, huddle rooms and 'soft areas'. We also have LED traffic light indicators on the desks which the employee can choose to use to indicate they don't want to be disturbed, and of course using headphones for music to focus is perfectly permitted. It promotes collaboration and creates a friendlier tighter team.
I can't see us ever really going back to an 'offices' layout, they are too far in the other direction, they create 'territory' and often imply undue status that we really try to avoid in the office. It does seem to be a generational thing, millennials adapt to it very quickly, but if you tell a baby-boomer they are 'losing' their office, they don't half kick off a fight - again, it's a territorial thing, the sense that they have 'earned' a space which others are not allowed to have. Offices are also a complete pain in the ass when it comes to re-organising teams, as the space then defines how you put the team together, whereas in the open-plan model, we can to some extent adapt the space to the team requirements.
Oh and for reference, at our place, you have to be above VP level to get a dedicated office and often SVPs choose to forgo their office and sit in the open plan areas. No one seems to mind... we are all very friendly
As my boss once said, you should be defined as a leader by what you do and the people you inspire, not the size of your office.
I can't see us ever really going back to an 'offices' layout, they are too far in the other direction, they create 'territory' and often imply undue status that we really try to avoid in the office. It does seem to be a generational thing, millennials adapt to it very quickly, but if you tell a baby-boomer they are 'losing' their office, they don't half kick off a fight - again, it's a territorial thing, the sense that they have 'earned' a space which others are not allowed to have. Offices are also a complete pain in the ass when it comes to re-organising teams, as the space then defines how you put the team together, whereas in the open-plan model, we can to some extent adapt the space to the team requirements.
Oh and for reference, at our place, you have to be above VP level to get a dedicated office and often SVPs choose to forgo their office and sit in the open plan areas. No one seems to mind... we are all very friendly
As my boss once said, you should be defined as a leader by what you do and the people you inspire, not the size of your office.
Which is obviously a bad approach, because some of them might leave, and you'd end up losing talent for nothing.