my husbands office went to "open office" 3 years ago . Before he had his own office with 4 walls & a door today he has a desk that is 3 to 4 feet from another desk. He says he has a hard time hearing anything on the phone & getting anything done . So he is always bring work home to "finish" that he could not get done at work due to the noise level . Thank goodness he will be retiring in a a few more years & he will not have to put up with it .....
@WJo: That is exaclty what I'm worried about. My job is different from those in my department because I spend lots of time on conference calls and on the phone discussing items with surveyors, field technicians, managers and right-of-way agents. As it is now, when I can't stand the cackling and partying going on by my co-workers, i just shut the door. I'm not going to have that luxury at the new office. They say they are going to move to this new environment to promote "collaboration", which makes absolutely no sense for what i do. 4951