The Hip, Ultra-Modern New Workspace

[flyingcat2k]

Originally Posted by Coney

This is what has replaced company pensions and employer paid health insurance.

Yes, people in their 20's might want some hammocks and beer on tap. Once you hit 40's, your gut is too big and there's at least 1 ex-wife with a divorce decree that you pick up the tab for Johnnie's and Jill's medical insurance. Pensions have been dead since the late 80's and there's good and bad with that. Medical insurance is one of those things that is difficult to live without.

Our workplace is trying to sweet talk us into this garbage. There won't be any beer, ping pong tables, flat screens or other accoutrements. Just a huge open room with pods of 4 desks shoved together like a 1970's police station. Directors and above only have offices. We've been saying no for the past month and the company has sent out surveys trying to get a "positive" response to it. I've worked in cube farms for the past 20 years and would much rather keep them. You can actually have some privacy and thought without other people seeing what you are working on.

As a manager, I have HR stuff that needs to be kept private. Pods will pretty much ensure that sensitive projects and HR stuff will become rumor mill fodder. Rumor and gossip always lead to bad workplace environments. Add that only directors and above have offices, you'll put office politics on steroids.

[dijkstra]

Sounds like the perfect environment for low productivity. Too much dicking around going on and not enough work. Remember the name of the company and see if they are still in business in a few years.

[vladlensky]

Yes, and no. If the company hires the right people then they should be competent adults who are able to understand and prioritize their workload and complete tasks regardless of the distractions and without constant babysitting. I haven't seen any issues caused by 'perks'; even when I worked in a smaller IT company in the Midwest that had shuffleboard tables and beer on tap, everyone made sure the work was done first and then took time off to kick back and relax. Those who didn't want to headed home; pretty simple.

One of the biggest mistakes some companies make is hyper-management; or the belief that if you aren't watching the employee every minute while they are sitting in the office then they will inevitably be wasting time otherwise unproductive. Instead why don't they just hire the right people and trust them - within reason - to get the work done. This results in a healthier, less stressful work culture for everyone without management. It also results in the flexibility to handle remote work arrangements and other things that are said to increase the ever-elusive work-life balance.

[Gabriella Geramia]

I work at a place like that. Ping pong table, pool table, couch, open office, can hear everything everybody says... if I wanted to get real work done I leave my desk and find a quieter place. If I wanted to make it look like I was working, I just sit at my desk.