Do we all need more space?

Here's an interesting statistic on office space: in the 1970's, every office worker had about 500 square feet to call his/her own. Today most workers have about 176 square feet - and  that's predicted to shrink to 100 by 2017.

That's kind of incredible. Amidst all the complaints about stagnant wages and disappearing pensions, we've forgotten to notice that our actual physical real estate is evaporating too. And the effects of this are particularly deleterious to we creatives, or so claims this fascinating article called Introverts,Extroverts and the Future of Work.

Anyone who's spent time in a variety of offices (like, say, freelancers) has noticed the range of seating design. High cubicles, low cubicles, suites, and odd geometric configurations all do a mixed job of offering accessibility while preserving privacy. But surely nothing offers less privacy than open-plan offices -arrangements that force everyone into a kind of exposed togetherness without a barrier in sight.

Open-plan offices usually look stylistically clean and hip, and I suspect it's for this reason that people assume they will foster stylish and hip ideas. But they don't, as studies are beginning to show. Instead they often foster stress, distraction and insecurity. There's a lack of productivity, as the collaboration they're designed to engender comes at the cost of focused work. This is especially disastrous for creatives, programmers and other workers who need a measure of isolation and privacy to make their magic happen.

70% of offices are now open-plan. While more companies show a commitment to designing space in tandem with different kinds of work, the reality that creative work demands its own kind of environment  isn't always a popular one. Too many corporate minds think they can plunk a writer or designer down in front of a laptop, surrounded by conversations and ring tones, and expect a fast and dazzling piece of work. Hopefully the recent research into office spaces will drive home the reality that we all need a little privacy sometimes - that we're humans, not machines.