> in an office it is more manageable to have private spaces instead of open spaces
was largely unsuccessful almost everywhere and the trend was for more open, more distracting spaces as time progressed. It was to the point that complaining about open offices & wishing we could complain about cubicles like our predecessors was a tired topic on HN.
The open work spaces thing too allowed for rapid over-hiring without having to have the real estate to back it up.
> I always assumed the open spaces trend was just pablum being served up by Corporate to take us (engineering) down a notch.
I don't disagree with this though.
Never underestimate the desire to keep up with the Joneses.
Those huge open plan offices of the 1970s looked amazing in magazine photo-shoots. If you're C-suite suit you can really preside over a room like that.
Like a newsroom bullpen seen from a balcony above, lots of noise, lots of activity.
It's a just bummer if your job is to think carefully about stuff without distraction.