Revisiting the Open-Office Revolution with Top Tech Employers

The conversion to primarily open-office floor plans over the past decade is now reaching adolescence, and like many revolutions has created problems as well as possibilities, panelists said at a ULI New York event in February. Industry experts from three tech companies that want to attract the best talent available described what they are seeing in the marketplace based on their considerable and far-flung office experiences.

Tom Vecchione, principal and design director at Gensler, cited a recent Harvard Business School study that showed a decline in both interpersonal interaction and productivity in open office settings. Open floor plans initially seemed like “the natural environment” for the focus of tech companies on “agility, flexibility, innovation,” he said.