I thought by now we must have more work-from-home telecommuting options. Yet most companies, especially the big ones insist on those dehumanising open plan layout offices. I've worked in the BPO sector for a while and I've hated every office I've been asked forced to work in. There you're reduced to a face in the crowd, a number and feel invisible.

Our team leaders and managers visit the site every other day on a rotating base, and the top manager has an office so it's all not fair. An open office layout works best in small startups and design studios of 20 people or less, not in big corporations of 50+ people per floor imo. Think more of a highschool classroom of 20 vs a huge college hall of 200s students where people are more distracted and looking at their phones and the teacher cannot control it.

Expectation and what CEOs market online vs the ugly reality:
https://i.ibb.co/KhptWKG/openfloor.jpg

My companies online however only show photos of common areas, dining areas and the front desk, never of the actual office, so the unsuspecting graduate gets hooked easily. ;) If I knew I'll have to work in such a place, I'd repeat high school endlessly. The stress of huge halls in uni was more than enough, I can't function in huge spaces.

I miss this layout/arrangement from school: https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/DSC_2388-1024x682.jpg The boardroom and U-shaped desks arrangement was also nice to me. But having so many rows of desks on all sides like in a big corporate office feels disgusting. I hope things change this decade and we move towards telecommuting and other office arrangements.

Those big “human warehouse” type offices are ridiculous. You usually see companies who use them also bragging that they have Nerf Basketball games and Wii games so their galley slaves can “work hard and play hard”.

In the end it is all about cheapness. If these companies thought they could hire people and provide just a step stool and a clip board, they would.  ::)

Those big “human warehouse” type offices are ridiculous. You usually see companies who use them also bragging that they have Nerf Basketball games and Wii games so their galley slaves can “work hard and play hard”.

In the end it is all about cheapness. If these companies thought they could hire people and provide just a step stool and a clip board, they would.  ::)
I blame the whole system that rewards the most powerful with everything and everyone below them hell.

I also found out that office cubicles are more expensive than open ones. Long desks also take up less space, and can accommodate more people.

Anyone have any ideas how to avoid the open office hell except for asking for home office upfront? It's like 90% of all businesses here have those warehouse type offices (BPO and call centers are a major sector). Really, our job can be done perfectly fine if not better from home. Yet you see those corps talk all the time about "Everyone matters", "Embrace the new", "Embrace diversity" etc. while doing the opposite. ;D

In my free time I'm currently taking Graphic design classes as I'm more of a creative and I like it. Even though my work load is not big at all for a call center I find just being in such an office all day soul-crushing. As you can imagine many coworkers ask others to release their calls while they're "online" to go out and smoke for a while. It's good we can get away with it, though, if we couldn't we'd all be even less satisfied. In other similar companies things are way worse, I've been there and the micromanagement was awful and you were treated like scum for daring to go to the WC.

Anyone have any ideas how to avoid the open office hell except for asking for home office upfront? It's like 90% of all businesses here have those warehouse type offices (BPO and call centers are a major sector). Really, our job can be done perfectly fine if not better from home. Yet you see those corps talk all the time about "Everyone matters", "Embrace the new", "Embrace diversity" etc. while doing the opposite. ;D

In my free time I'm currently taking Graphic design classes as I'm more of a creative and I like it. Even though my work load is not big at all for a call center I find just being in such an office all day soul-crushing. As you can imagine many coworkers ask others to release their calls while they're "online" to go out and smoke for a while. It's good we can get away with it, though, if we couldn't we'd all be even less satisfied. In other similar companies things are way worse, I've been there and the micromanagement was awful and you were treated like scum for daring to go to the WC.

I actually want to become a graphic designer as well in college. But unfortunately, I have a lot of financial issues that are too complicated to talk about, and because of them, I can't go to community college until summertime.

Anyone have any ideas how to avoid the open office hell except for asking for home office upfront? It's like 90% of all businesses here have those warehouse type offices (BPO and call centers are a major sector). Really, our job can be done perfectly fine if not better from home. Yet you see those corps talk all the time about "Everyone matters", "Embrace the new", "Embrace diversity" etc. while doing the opposite. ;D

In my free time I'm currently taking Graphic design classes as I'm more of a creative and I like it. Even though my work load is not big at all for a call center I find just being in such an office all day soul-crushing. As you can imagine many coworkers ask others to release their calls while they're "online" to go out and smoke for a while. It's good we can get away with it, though, if we couldn't we'd all be even less satisfied. In other similar companies things are way worse, I've been there and the micromanagement was awful and you were treated like scum for daring to go to the WC.


There are PLENTY of people for which the home office option is out of the question.

I used to work with a gal who was an awesome worker. First one at the office in the morning, last one to leave. Excellent performance. Customers loved her.

Then she got set up with a home office and her productivity went down the toilet. She then went to another company, did the home office thing, and again, her performance sucked.

It ain’t for everybody...

There are PLENTY of people for which the home office option is out of the question.

I used to work with a gal who was an awesome worker. First one at the office in the morning, last one to leave. Excellent performance. Customers loved her.

Then she got set up with a home office and her productivity went down the toilet. She then went to another company, did the home office thing, and again, her performance sucked.

It ain’t for everybody...


By home office do you mean work from home? Because it worked out really well from me. I started with just 2 days of telecommuting at first, but now it's permanent (except for some important meetings). I'm much more productive at home or at a coffee shop than commuting the 1 hour to my office, which tired me out, especially in the winter.

My favorite places to work are the ones with more laid back feel to 'em. Business cubicles feel too corporate and boring. I used to work in an area where the buildings were really just redesigned barns and shacks. Really gave the place a nice tropical/back woods vibe to 'em.

The job a food service job. The folks in the barn come up with plans, deals, foods, sales etc while the folks in the Shack near the beach or inner metro would do the selling and make the money.

By home office do you mean work from home? Because it worked out really well from me. I started with just 2 days of telecommuting at first, but now it's permanent (except for some important meetings). I'm much more productive at home or at a coffee shop than commuting the 1 hour to my office, which tired me out, especially in the winter.



Isn't it better to be your own boss at home than to deal with a lot of co-workers?

I keep hearing of reports of, now most work consists of working online, some work can be done at home.

I’ve never actually been to an office that looks like the second image. They’ve all been open plan, including the one I work at now.

The 2nd image is what the office at my work looks like.  Well sorta.  Not a matrix of cubes, just a row of cubes that goes down a 200 ft hallway.  I actually consider this open plan, compared to the individual offices we had before 2007.  I've been here since 1998.  I got so much more done with the sonic isolation of individual offices.  Now the only way I get a lot done is to stay late after everyone else leaves.  I live alone so for me working from home would work better, but even if I had high speed internet at my house, they don't allow working from home.  I can see where some people wouldn't get as much done at home, if they have distraction from family or housemates or whatever.

I keep hearing of reports of, now most work consists of working online, some work can be done at home.


And your desk can be your own office.

And your desk can be your own office.
With all the distractions of being out home?

I’ve never actually been to an office that looks like the second image. They’ve all been open plan, including the one I work at now.

Do you mean the classroom or the one on the right? Are you in the creative industry or startups? They're the ones that usually have the hip offices like the left one in my OP photo.

The right ones are loved by large corporations, especially in the business process outsourcing (BPO) and call centers sector (there are headsets on them in the photo). Which unfortunately is the majority of businesses here due to the low cost of living. :-X

Do you mean the classroom or the one on the right? Are you in the creative industry or startups? They're the ones that usually have the hip offices like the left one in my OP photo.

The right ones are loved by large corporations, especially in the business process outsourcing (BPO) and call centers sector (there are headsets on them in the photo). Which unfortunately is the majority of businesses here due to the low cost of living. :-X

It’s not hip or trendy like the one on the left, it’s just open plan with everyone’s desks being together, like this: https://scienceblog.cut-e.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ScienceBlog-Picture_Jul_18-1-1920x1080.jpg

Every office I’ve been to has looked pretty similar to that.

I work in admin for a legal company.

^wow, that's more relaxed but still it looks meh to me, I would quit after a few months really as I hate havin no wall behind me. The only way I'll tolarate this set up for more than a year is if the room is smaller, with less than 30 (ideally less than 20) people, think classroom-like.
It's good that at my current company the cult-like mentality is far more lax and people admit that many things in upper management and the way outsourcing companies are run s*cks. In fact we have a guy that often will rant and say "these people here have no soul", "they way this business is run s*cks" etc.

I guess call centers or at least mine are more lax. No one would dare say this in the huge Top 500 corporations I worked before (think ones of same ilk like Pfizer, HP, Accenture etc.). Everyone was keeping their mouths shut there and there was far more micromanaging than here. We didn't have specific breaks as here, yet ppl would complain to our team lead if you went to the WC, it was so disfunctional. As if somehow dirty games between coworkers would make the reality of being treated like numbers disappear.

With all the distractions of being out home?


Just peace and quiet.