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I've been at this job for a few weeks now, where nobody is assigned any seating. So people have to carry their belongings everywhere, spending much of their day: looking for an open workstation, packing, unpacking, walking across the building to get supplies or coffee, adjusting the workstation so it works right, and looking for lost belongings. Managers do this all day long too, and have to give approval for every single task their employees do. So a manager's day is spent packing, unpacking, going to meetings, and approving every staple the employees use.
Needless to say, productivity is zero and most people have quit. My supervisor quit too after hiring me. The company is paying top dollar to hire people faster than they quit, and many management positions remain vacant. Is this sort of environment common among tech companies in the area?
I have never heard of such a thing, ever. Has this employer been around awhile? Either the employer is too cheap to comfortably accommodate its employees, or this is bad concept to preventing "personal anything" in their workforce.
With that kind of money going down the drain, it's ultra-poor management with a lot of red flags. Do they offer retirement? Hate to think how they "handle" benefits.
Can't say anything about approvals for items - but overall larger companies like "open" seating as you call it to decrease politics and increase collaboration, flexibility, morals. I have worked and lived in many different countries for different employers and I always liked that mostly I could sit wherever I want.
Have met many new friends/colleagues that way who I wouldn't have met sitting in the same spot for years. Most startups, tech companies and "innovative" players try to adopt these kind of concepts to make your work space as "free" as possible.
this is just my opinion, of course. I am sure there are people who'd prefer to keep one desk they can decorate or style differently.
but overall larger companies like "open" seating as you call it to decrease politics and increase collaboration, flexibility, morals.
In my experience, this is an HR talking point and the upper management likes to pat themselves on the back for being "open".
In reality, at least in my opinion, it has the opposite effect - decreases collaboration and morale, but in fairness I would assume that it depends on what your job duties are.
There are those, like myself, who don't need to collaborate and do require a quiet and/or private office from time to time. So for management and HR to paint with such a broad brush - no it does not work for everyone.
Back to the OP, what line of work are you in? I've seen that in sales departments where people spend time on the road but never for a FTE to have to deal with that on a day to day basis.
I know of people whose companies have gone this route and it's generally in fields where they want to encourage folks to work from home more. Is this the case with your company or are you required to go in? I don't know that I'd stick around long in that environment even for top dollar.
You wouldn't necessarily know during the interview whether colleagues sit at that desk every day or not. But "hot desks" are something the HR team would highlight as a "benefit", because it is all the rage and "like a startup". They also go with free fruit in the morning and a few bright soft foam ear chairs in the corner. This all screams "we are innovative and cool".
I guess I spent way too many years of my life in the corporate world...
Depending on the employer, it can be an attempt to save on office space if a lot of employees work from home. On the floor where I work, some employees are assigned cubicles but I literally have seen them at their desk once or twice in two years. The rest of the time they work from home. In situations like that I can see not assigning a specific cubicle, and that has been done for some departments. On the other hand, I tend to be at my desk anywhere from 3-5 days a week, and would find it annoying not to have a set place.
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