# Proliferation of Office Cubicles **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514 "2010-08-07T14:58:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/21 "2010-08-09T02:10:22Z")
FWIW I had a co-op job at a defense contractor in 1970 and they had cubicles constructed with permananet wooden walls about 4 feet tall. The building seemed a bit old and those cubicles may easily have already been there 5 or more years already. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/22 "2010-08-09T02:18:39Z")
The programmers in my workplace don’t want offices. They sit in a bullpen area so they can collaborate and help one another. The whole group is moving to a new area in a month. They stuck the four programmers in two adjoining offices. They had facilities take out the wall between the offices. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/23 "2010-08-09T02:23:57Z")
At our ad agency, we tore down the office walls and made short cubicles (quite stylish, nice wood), and if you were sitting down, you couldn’t see anyone else and you could eat your Secret Stash O’ Cheetos in private. But you could easily yell “Meeting’s in an hour-- is the client expecting logos for each division? … OK, thanks, fourteen logos, comin’ up!” Suddenly you didn’t have to send an email and wait for an answer. And our productivity and communication skills went way up. And we could still eat our Cheetos. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/24 "2010-08-09T02:59:20Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > > [@Balthisar](#): > > > > I’ve only ever known cubicles. I can’t even _imagine_ what it would be like to have my own organization confined to only offices. We’d need 10 times the space. Or where else do you put 180 engineers? > > Ask Google. From what I hear, they manage nicely. > Anybody here ever been? My friend’s son works for them, but he’s in China right now. I was there last week. I was only on two different floors of a couple buildings but they most definitely had cubes. They had large offices around the perimeter with 2-4 people in them, and cubes that seemed to be for single people. Their cubicle walls went up about 4’ and then had 1’ of clear glass at the top. They also have a swimming pool, free gourmet lunchrooms and Google-colored bicycles you could borrow, so I wouldn’t count them as a good candidate for a survey about your typical office 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/25 "2010-08-09T03:06:51Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > > [@mangeorge](#): > > > > Ask Google. From what I hear, they manage nicely. > > Anybody here ever been? My friend’s son works for them, but he’s in China right now. > > I was there last week. I was only on two different floors of a couple buildings but they most definitely had cubes. They had large offices around the perimeter with 2-4 people in them, and cubes that seemed to be for single people. Their cubicle walls went up about 4’ and then had 1’ of clear glass at the top. > > They also have a swimming pool, free gourmet lunchrooms and Google-colored bicycles you could borrow, so I wouldn’t count them as a good candidate for a survey about your typical office 🙂 They also have those toilet seats that wash their bottoms for them. I want one! 🙂 BTW, those big offices where I work are called “huddle” rooms. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/26 "2010-08-09T04:47:20Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > > [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > > > Cost was probably a big factor. Some places use what they call hoteling - you get a new cube every day when you show up for work. Sometimes that is just for people who mostly work outside the office. > > Cubicles are cheaper than private offices, but create an illusion of privacy. Illusion of privacy is right. There can be no true privacy when you sit with your back to the opening. Whenever I’ve had an office, I’ve always had the desk opposite the door and facing it. IME cubicles usually provided better storage and lighting than traditional offices, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/27 "2010-08-09T05:10:55Z")
This is my biggest issue. I can’t stand having my back to a door, so a cube has always been uncomfortable. I have an office at the moment, and my desk faces the door. It’s like that in my home office, too, even though it makes the room a bit more cramped. As for cubicles, I wonder if hygiene is part of it. A sneeze in an open floorplan will splatter ten different people. In open offices, there’s more sharing of things. Staplers, keyboards, cabinets, etc. It’s possible to work an entire day in a cube and not really touch much of anything that other people are touching. Sick time costs companies a lot of money. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/28 "2010-08-09T06:25:24Z")
That’s the way our CS shop was too. We were much more productive working together. Best work experience in my career. I was right out of school and learned a lot from the more experienced guys. There were only 8 of us. I wouldn’t want to work in an open space with fifty people. 😉 > [@hajario](#): > > The programmers in my workplace don’t want offices. They sit in a bullpen area so they can collaborate and help one another. The whole group is moving to a new area in a month. They stuck the four programmers in two adjoining offices. They had facilities take out the wall between the offices. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/29 "2010-08-09T06:45:56Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That’s the way our CS shop was too. We were much more productive working together. Best work experience in my career. I was right out of school and learned a lot from the more experienced guys. > > There were only 8 of us. I wouldn’t want to work in an open space with fifty people. 😉 We have offices, and have no trouble talking to one another. The plus side is that if you just want to put your head down and work, it is much easier in an office. Ditto for phone calls. I hate head sets, but in cubes they are essential. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/30 "2010-08-09T06:47:11Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > This is my biggest issue. I can’t stand having my back to a door, so a cube has always been uncomfortable. I have an office at the moment, and my desk faces the door. It’s like that in my home office, too, even though it makes the room a bit more cramped. When we move buildings I had them rearrange my office so that I face the door. I have a window, but it faces the parking lot so it is not that much of a plus. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/31 "2010-08-09T06:50:39Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Cost was probably a big factor. Some places use what they call hoteling - you get a new cube every day when you show up for work. Sometimes that is just for people who mostly work outside the office. Some buildings in my company had hoteling with offices. People didn’t like it very much, but it was done to reduce real estate costs, and was done at the same time as a big work from home effort, so I don’t think it was meant to dehumanize anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/32 "2010-08-09T06:53:09Z")
Intel has cubes, but while I didn’t much like them when I worked there, they had the advantage of being universal - even the CEO has one. I interviewed one place with offices along the walls and cubes in the middle - that was just one of this places many problems. However at Intel seemed to only one person in my group actually sat next to or adjacent to me, so the head popping over the wall part didn’t work very well. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/33 "2010-08-09T14:12:22Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Some buildings in my company had hoteling with offices. People didn’t like it very much, but it was done to reduce real estate costs, and was done at the same time as a big work from home effort, so I don’t think it was meant to dehumanize anyone. It’s never meant to dehumanize. It just works out that way. And that raises the question: you say some buildings “had” hoteling. Does that mean they don’t have it now? And if not, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/34 "2010-08-09T21:53:15Z")
I used to work at Hewlett Packard back in the early 80s and it was long time company policy to have cubicles to promote a more egalitarian environment. Managers and division heads (I believe) only had cubicles. I think John Young (President), Hewlett and Packard were the only ones with offices. I think this was company policy back from its inception, circa 1939. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/35 "2010-08-09T22:33:00Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It’s never meant to dehumanize. It just works out that way. > > And that raises the question: you say some buildings “had” hoteling. Does that mean they don’t have it now? And if not, why not? That was not a complaint I ever heard. People minded not being close to those they worked with, and people with too much stuff didn’t like it. My division never used it. Remember, this same philosophy allowed some people in countries where most employees got laid off to continue to work, and allowed at least one woman whose husband had to move to a place far away from any offices. We got acquired, and I’m not sure if the new owners are keeping the policy. It is not used in my building now, though it is set up for it. My division has always been exempt. I don’t like it myself because I have 25 years worth of fat proceedings I often look through, not to mention other books and journals. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/36 "2010-08-09T23:44:46Z")
[quote=“Voyager, post:35, topic:549514”] > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I have 25 years worth of fat proceedings I often look through, not to mention other books and journals. FMI; I looked, but couldn’t find what “fat proceedings” might be. So, wazzat? 🙂 Thanks ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/38 "2010-08-31T12:49:12Z")
I still have no idea what “fat proceedings” might be. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/39 "2010-08-31T13:41:14Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I still have no idea what “fat proceedings” might be. 😕 Factory Acceptance Test is my guess. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/40 "2010-08-31T14:18:47Z")
Perhaps when **Voyager** referenced “25 years worth of fat proceedings,” he simply meant 25 years worth of thick volumes. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514/41 "2010-08-31T14:49:51Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Perhaps when **Voyager** referenced “25 years worth of fat proceedings,” he simply meant 25 years worth of thick volumes. That would be my guess. I would use the term in the same way. In fact, because of the way the nested quotes got mishandled, I see that I’m the one quoted as saying this. I was going crazy trying to find where I said this so I could figure out what the heck I meant. Curse you, Giraffe! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proliferation-of-office-cubicles/549514.md?page=3)