I keep hearing it's a lot of locations that are now doing open seating instead of having assigned cubicles. Is it because of people not returning to the office and the medical "accommodations"? So far from my location we still have assigned seating but we did notice people walking through with maps and clipboards. Is it anyone here have the open seating? We keep asking management and they claim they don't know.
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It is all pathetic. RTO is good because it fosters teamwork and collaboration. But how does that work if your team is scattered across the floor or building. The office is still empty most days except the scrubs like myself having to come in. Lucky for us the area we were supposed to be relocated to isn't ready.
Cleanliness is the biggest concern with this open seating model! I see that some people leave their mess behind on purpose so no one else will take their desk. I've seen coffee cups left on the desk, shoes under the desk and other personal items on the desk. People fight over desks space that provides a little more privacy such as the ones near the windows in the corner. Oh some even put their name plate on the supposedly "shared desk"! Ridiculous to say the least. WFH is much better!
Open seating in OBP in NY is terrible. everyone hates it and avoids it, staying WFH or ducking into 'private ' closets like toilet closets. Horrible. The noise and annoyance and health concerns from sitting 3 feet from 3-4 colleagues is stupid. I remember the head of GTS said 'you say in ESAT you want collaboration, we will bring it with the new open seating floor plan'. Then they dropped the cost-saving, shoulder-on-shoulder, loud disaster floor plan and he left BofA two months later. Pathetic
Not related to RTO at all. This started with a pilot on one floor in CLT, then another in NYC (OBP) a million years ago (ok, more like 10-15 yrs). The Commercial Real Estate team (internal) really liked it for expense savings (of course) and touted it, probably at the behest of outside business consultants who said that "collaborative space" was the "wave of the future" (haha). Maybe it was in 2009!!!
I've been in both places and I can tell you first hand, it's gross and disgusting.
Cesspool of germs from leftover uneaten sandwiches, smelly lunches from your "neighbor", sticky keyboards, no place to put your coat except a shared coatrack, people who hoard the temporary lockers, loud, no privacy, so everyone wears headphones and gets mad at each other.
So much for being better when we're connected. It's ridiculous.
It’s horrible. A pain to deal with. Uncomfortable. I don’t feel welcome at the company and have lost a piece of my work identity since losing my personal space. It’s also gross that others touch the desk, chair, phone, etc. I mean… some gross guy could literally fa-t or put a booger on the chair I’m using. I hate this and it makes me want to WFH more than they want us to.. sorry not sorry. It’s so gross and obnoxious. They’ll hear about it in their little survey (the one they lie about and say everything is perfect - even when we give real feedback).
The new workspace is on Flagscape