Why Open Offices?

Re:Why Open Offices? by michaelt on Wednesday July 29, 2015 @08:23AM (#9968104)

  One possibility is some people genuinely prefer them.  I 
  keep talking myself up to that, only to read another 
  article about how everyone is miserable and unproductive 
  in them.

Given the choice between open plan and private office in San Francisco (where office space costs ~$36/square foot) people say they'd rather have a private office.

Given the choice between open plan in San Francisco and a private office in Chattanooga, Tennessee (where office space costs ~$11/square foot) my guess is you'd get more job applicants for the job in SF.

Perhaps this is a revealed preference for living in SF, and people are willing to trade off private offices to get it.

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Re:Why Open Offices? by cableshaft on Wednesday July 29, 2015 @10:16AM (#9968739)

Or option three: Given the choice between open plan in San Francisco and open plan in Chattanooga, Tennessee, they choose the job in SF.

There's just as many open plan offices outside of SF. I'm in the Chicago area, and I've never worked at, with, or interviewed with any company around here that didn't have an open office plan (with one single exception, and it was a game company, and they were split up into rooms of 6-8 people, no private offices except for management).

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