Treat them as the humans they are and not cogs in the machine.

or... oooor! they could take some inspiration from the fella that designed the stacked airplane seats and create open plan plus - on 2 levels, stacked on top of each other

that way they save money on rent and have people in the office. you also need less wardens to look over the whole area if workers are more tightly packed

The only way I would return to the office is if they arranged transport for me, and I worked from 9-12 every day, and still had Friday off, and I was allowed to show up to the office in my pajamas and bring my dog with me, and I get my own office, and there’s beer and whiskey in the office, and I get to control the hvac in the office.

That’s the only way it could achieve parity with my WFH situation. And I live 15 minutes away from the office right now. I’m never going back.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Tightly spaced desks in open offices also often feel cramped; everyone has just enough room to type without jostling elbows.

As for collaboration, yes, the benefits of in-person work look substantial: In addition to fostering team spirit, it seems to help workers acquire skills, and, over the long run, it probably boosts productivity.

In fact, excessive closeness might be a detriment: In a 2018 study, researchers used digital devices to record actual interactions between co-workers before and after their firm switched from cubicles to an open floor plan.

But the remote work revolution actually makes this tradeoff less painful for the wily manager who is willing to give workers some space and privacy if the boost to productivity outweighs the cost.

As other employers use remote work to downsize their space, owners of commercial properties are facing what Curbed recently dubbed an “office apocalypse.” The site reports that 5 Times Square, formerly “a gleaming centerpiece of 42nd Street’s revival,” is “currently close to empty.” It’s not the only one, and that’s starting to cut into office rental rates.

Rather than try to threaten or cajole their way to the productivity-boosting benefits of in-person work, they can bring their workers together by giving them space to keep apart.

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