The end of the open office agency?

Are agencies’ open office concepts dead?

Eighty percent of employees in a new COVID-19 poll by the Institute for Public Relations and The Harris Poll said employers should move toward sectioned-off offices and phase out open-office spaces (OOS). Before COVID-19, companies continued pushing OOS to minimize real estate costs while hoping to increase employee collaboration and productivity.

One Harvard Business School study found OOS decreased face-to-face interaction and increased emails. OOS also decreases privacy and employee focus. The good news is companies have workarounds, such as barriers or staggered desks. But, is it dead? Not yet, but it should be.

– Tina McCorkindale, Institute for Public Relations