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When I was hired, my firm had its main office in the suburbs. I felt pretty good about the location and environment and purchased a house nearby. At that time, many employees and managers lived in the area. Since then, the firm has changed hands, and the original office space, as part of an ineffectual cost-saving move, has been reduced in half. Ineffectual because the new lease no longer included utilities. The "savings" were spent opening a new office in the city, and a bunch of young sales hires were made for a small bullpen type office. There are no cubicles in the city, and the few offices are reserved for a handful of lucky first movers. Now they are looking for cost savings again. The firm's plan is to shut down the office in suburbia because "having everyone in the same location inspires the best ideas."
Can someone point to some research (e.g., from HBR [Harvard Business Review] or similar) indicating that R&D teams may be best served by being in distraction-free environments separated from the gossip and hubbub of sales? Or that accommodating workers who want to be away from the city may save on labor expenses and employee turnover?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 16 2017, @07:22PM
This. 100 times, this. Extroverts tend to build environments that they like and thrive in. And expect everyone to adapt and thrive in such environments. Sales and Marketing traditionally has an overwhelming percentage of extroverts. And, in most companies, executive leadership comes from the Sales and Marketing groups because that's where all the money is made. Thus, work environments tend to skew towards those that work best for extroverts. If there is an easy way to claim efficiencies, all the better (even if those efficiencies don't live up to their promise).