Cubicle farm!!!

[audreyh1]

6' x 6' cube? that's luxury mate!

My MC moved to open seating - we called it picnic tables. Long narrow tables where the only separation from you to the person the other side is your pc monitors. And someone next to you doing the same.

Lockers for personal things to leave overnight. It's all part of Agile we were told. More like cheap real estate...

These just seem like a nightmare! Really spells out how expendable you are.

 

[ckelly78z]

Watch the movie "Office Space" and have a chuckle.

I have a cube with a viewing window overlooking my shop....almost every person doesn't want to make to trip around one wall (another 10' walk) to talk to face to face, so they try to talk through the window, and end up sounding like Charlie Brown's teacher " WA, waaaa, wa wa" !

 

[Chuckanut]

At one job my desk was a table, the kind that folds up for storage. No drawers, nothing to store material. We would go down the the computer printer room and get the empty paper boxes. We taped them together, cut openings in them and used that as a file cabinet. Of course, there was not privacy at all, no way to shield yourself for distractions.

You have to think if these managers were football team managers they would provide lead soled boots to their running backs, overly tight restrictive clothing to their quarterbacks, and the defensive squad would have their ankles roped together (to promote teamwork!).

 

[deskpilot]

My MC gutted and remodeled our site to switch from offices to the picnic table model - although the picnic tables were the best that you could waste money on - they raised and lowered electronically and had all the bells and whistles.

The part of the MC that did the remodeling truly believed in the benefits (to support an agile workplace). We were not being devalued. It cost a ton of money and saved none. This part of the MC probably should have spoken to the part of the MC that was preparing to fire us all.

right after remodeling, the MC started getting rid of us. One at a time, they would close floors of the newly redone building and consolidate the remaining employees. We were down to the last floor when they fired just about everyone and sold the building.

Each time a floor was shut down, the furniture was shipped to growing locations overseas. So, the furniture was off-shored along with our jobs.

 

[JoeWras]

Lockers for personal things to leave overnight. It's all part of Agile we were told. More like cheap real estate...

Spot on. Picnic tables do not equal "agile."

Speaking of picnic tables... my MC put actual, real life, picnic tables in the common area of open space. These were not well received. They replaced them with couches, some of which had power, USB and fold out tables. Slightly better received

 

[FreeBear]

right after remodeling, the MC started getting rid of us. One at a time, they would close floors of the newly redone building and consolidate the remaining employees. We were down to the last floor when they fired just about everyone and sold the building.

Each time a floor was shut down, the furniture was shipped to growing locations overseas. So, the furniture was off-shored along with our jobs.

Same old story here. Old manufacturing plant was turned into a "technology center". Remodeled the entrance and adjacent offices. Hired a bunch of expensive outside people with advanced degrees that knew nothing about the business. Two years later, they shut the entire place down.

After the annual layoff, management would "reassure" the survivors that there would be no more layoffs. We'd add a mumbled "at least for today". Fortunately, I had already planned to pull the rip chord when things got really bad. Then it was not longer painful to listen to the nonsense, just surreal.

 

[kgtest]

So, my lovely MegaCorp has decided to relocate us to
a new location in a major city where commuting will
be a nightmare.

One gift of the change will be moving into the latest
trend of office technology ... the farm.
Workers will be packed closer, having basically 6’ x 6’
of space.

So you get to tap away on your keyboard while
the guy across from you is picking his nose while
the neighbor to your left is nursing a terminal flem attack.
Meanwhile your neighbor to your right is doing
the left-cheek-sneak after a breakfast of refried beans
and stale tuna fish!

Can't wait to retire.

I had to work staring at someone directly across from me basically working from a card table before. #ITstartupLife

I *might have to do this again, sigh.

 

[Kabowest]

Yep. Went from office, to 6x8, to 6x6, to open office (i.e rows of desks, side by side). Nothing like rows of desks, with your best buds sitting next to you looking at your screen, while they blab on the phone.

It was an effective way to get me to press the ER button.

Sounds like a scene from the movie Brazil!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Well, I guess it's better than being sent to "Storage B", right?

 

[kgtest]

Well, I guess it's better than being sent to "Storage B", right?

Not entirely...if the paycheck keeps coming, but in Milton's case, yeah not good. *mumbling But I didn't receive my paycheck and HR said...

 

[kgtest]

I honestly think the open office concept is also pushing the Work Remote trend. It's like a magnet, one effects the other...and the result is polar opposite LMAO.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Not entirely...if the paycheck keeps coming, but in Milton's case, yeah not good. *mumbling But I didn't receive my paycheck and HR said...

As sad as it might sound, Office Space is probably my #2 favorite movie and I watch it at least once a month; Mike Judge is brilliant!

 

[JoeWras]

Sounds like a scene from the movie Brazil!

We didn't have all the tubes and wires and stuff.

 

[RxMan]

“Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, just a moment....”

Office Space is a classic!

I actually had a paper jam in one of the printers at work recently and all I could do was smile because it immediately made me think of this movie.

 

[JoeWras]

“Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, just a moment....”

Office Space is a classic!

I actually had a paper jam in one of the printers at work recently and all I could do was smile because it immediately made me think of this movie.

A track of gangsta rap always played in my head when the copier jammed at work. There is so much about Office Space that rings true. We even had a group of 3 guys with the same name on the same project and people would say, "Let's go meet with The Bobs" when it was time for a project meeting.

 

[rpguy4]

So, my lovely MegaCorp has decided to relocate us to
a new location in a major city where commuting will
be a nightmare.

One gift of the change will be moving into the latest
trend of office technology ... the farm.
Workers will be packed closer, having basically 6’ x 6’
of space.

So you get to tap away on your keyboard while
the guy across from you is picking his nose while
the neighbor to your left is nursing a terminal flem attack.
Meanwhile your neighbor to your right is doing
the left-cheek-sneak after a breakfast of refried beans
and stale tuna fish!

Can't wait to retire.

Do you still get a phone and / or a trash can at each desk ?


My former company had us using our laptops or our own personal cell phones with headsets. All trash cans / recycle bins were in the common areas. Made it easier for the cleaning crews

 

[audreyh1]

Do you still get a phone and / or a trash can at each desk ?


My former company had us using our laptops or our own personal cell phones with headsets. All trash cans / recycle bins were in the common areas. Made it easier for the cleaning crews

How could they make you use your personal cellphones?

 

[rpguy4]

How could they make you use your personal cellphones?

For me, and I think others as well it was just a matter of personal convenience and choice. Since I had unlimited cell plan, and generally was on the company wireless, a lot of times I would just use my cell phone. Especially too, if I didn't have to share my computer screen. I know some folks would expense part of there cell phone bills every month.

The MegaTech company I worked for figured out that office space and company resources was costing them money. In there inherent wisdom, Work Place Resources (WPR) started tracking how many cubicles and offices a group or department was using, and started charging that group for their building space. It was now a line item in the department's budget. Making the offices smaller allowed them to hire more people using the same amount of space. The same idea for the desk phones. Since IT had to support those phone users, that was a charge back to the department.

 

[deskpilot]

My company also got rid of phones. We were given headsets and had to use Skype for Business, which was actually a lot better than using phones. the wireless headsets cost $150 each and had a huge range if you wanted to walk away from your desk. I assume that it cost the company a lot of money for this switch.

We also had no garbage pails, except in the "kitchen" areas. This was probably to keep people from eating at their desks and to better control pest problems.

 

[ransil]

Do you still get a phone and / or a trash can at each desk ?


My former company had us using our laptops or our own personal cell phones with headsets. All trash cans / recycle bins were in the common areas. Made it easier for the cleaning crews

No phones, use Skype for bussiness, they are still working out the bugs

 

[nobody]

73 more days of cube life after being in one for almost 20 years.

 

[HI Bill]

My Megacorp just announced that we were going to get rid of our IP CISCO phones, and instead use headsets with our computers....losing our speakerphones. I'm really lucky at the moment. Still have an office with a door, a view of the Koolau mountains...and my IP phone!

 

[nhcycling]

My MC is fast moving towards work from home and flexible work spaces. No assigned offices. Sign up for the space you need for the week - quiet, small meeting etc. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[davebarnes]

Cellphones for everyone

My Megacorp just announced that we were going to get rid of our IP CISCO phones, and instead use headsets with our computers

Plantronics has announced, but no shipping date, this. I predict they will sell "billions".

https://www.plantronics.com/us/en/product/plantronics-elara-60

 

[Luck_Club]

Being in outside sales, I've never had an office outside the home since about 1994. With that being said my customers, always resided in the farm, and I would occasionally hold a meeting on a borrowed chair.

Greatest of empathy for those who endured the farm and lived to talk about it.