I worked in open spaces with more than 300 desks per floor aligned next to each other and no walls. You can't talk, you are always making eye contact with people you don't even know, your screen is constantly visible to the others and you can't keep anything personal next to you. A cubicle would have been a dream in comparison.

My first tech job gave me a cubicle in an office. Then at Amazon I had a desk in a team room, which was nice. Then we got moved to open layout, which was dogshit fucking horrible. I've long since left that hellish company and enjoy my own office at home, but yeah I totally agree that cubicles were much better than at least the tech industry norm these days.

I also sort of blame it on the social media culture of being “constantly connected.” In some workplace cultures, (especially outside the dev space), not being constantly visible and grinning is the same as not consistently posting happy updates on your feed and consuming them.

I remember in my last job we had an “open office” plan after buying and renovating a huge space, and I found a niche little area to set up my desk without people staring at me and when people came to ask me questions they would say shit like “oh so this is where you’re hiding!”

Yes, on company property in the main workroom seated at my company desk using my company computer.

Thankfully my new job is fully remote, so fuck all that weird social noise when at the end of the day I’m just whoring my brain and fingers out so I can pay my rent and buy groceries

My first job was all small rooms of 4-6 desks. Rigid desks, with stuff like drawers where you could keep stuff. Enough space for a few desktop computers, crt monitors, in trays, out trays, reference books and files and still space to work.

Way better than the open plan that came along and the desks gradually shrank down to a small square on a single large shared table who'se thin badly supported top is vibrating from everyone else typing.

I'm sure a 70s typing pool type situation would have been worse - but personally my situation has regressed a lot closer to that now. WFH is more productive just because i have enough space for the way i work.

I'd love a cubicle office - never actually worked in one - but I doubt it be as good as the small room setup was .