The cultural ennui caused by office culture was a popular feature of 1990 mass media despite the decade’s economic tailwinds and incredible material prosperity. Movies like Office Space and Fight Club featured the much-maligned ‘cubicle farm’, a common feature of office culture that was thought to perpetuate the air of oppressive stagnancy that permeated middle-class life.

Fast forward thirty years, and the kids who grew up watching this popular representation of the “horrors” of white-collar work strove to break away from the traditional cubicle farm design. Open-concept offices featuring shared desking solutions and impermanent seating for employees now dominate most new office designs, as if they were created as a rebuke to the workplaces depicted in the movies of their childhoods.

While many Gen Xers look at these new design schemes with satisfaction, many millennials and older Gen Z cohorts wonder if something was lost along the way. Open design schemas bring many benefits—they promote communications, collaboration, and a fast-paced work environment. However, they also have some major weaknesses that younger generations are becoming increasingly aware of.

Open office environments are often loud and filled with distractions. The same fast-paced communications that is so beneficial for some teams can represent a major distraction for those workers not involved in the project or task.

These sleek spaces also lack privacy, something that many younger workers value more than past generations. The large, open spaces can make one feel like they’re always being watched, judged, or monitored, and the lack of personalization of the space can cause a feeling of transient isolation.

In the best case, these deficiencies lead to lower efficiency; in the worst case, they can cause morale to plummet as workers get annoyed and stressed. Older generations may have viewed cubicle farms with distaste, but younger workers are finding that the flipside comes with its own issues.

The cubicle-based office design allows personnel to customize their own spaces and make it ‘theirs’, which creates a much more comfortable working environment. It also provides them with a level of privacy that allows them to breathe a little easier without the consistent sensation of feeling watched.

Modern systems like the Novo cubicles come with a number of upgrades over the older models depicted in our favorite 90’s media. They provide handy data and power connections that enable the modern technology an office needs while also creating a more tidy, clean environment.

Many office managers today grew up watching the negative depictions of a cubicle-heavy environment, but that bias shouldn’t determine the kind of office furniture they equip their workspaces with. Cubicles provide a significant number of advantages over open office designs, especially for privacy-loving younger workers.

Creative Office Design can provide furniture for open, closed, or mixed office design schemes if you want to equip your office in the Los Angeles or Orange County areas. Creative can help determine what type of design would best fit your business and employee’s needs. Call today:

Creative Office Design

(714) 328-7627

15440 Laguna Canyon Rd Ste 120 Irvine, CA 92618