According to a resent study conducted by the International Facility Management Association, the average size of the worker cubicle is shrinking. In 1994, each worker had about 90 square feet to work in; that number has shrunk down to 75 feet in 2010, and is expected to shrink even smaller. Experts are predicting the death of the cubicle; meanwhile, my office is as cube-loving as ever (except we have half-sized walls, not full-sized cube walls).
“The idea of the cubicle as the place where you work all day, where you sit all day, is disappearing,” says Andrew Laing, managing director of DEGW North America. “If you look at the total amount of space that people have to work in today, and not just the individual work space, then the individual amount of work space has declined. But the amount of space that is proportioned for collaboration and other shared spaces has been going up.”
I don’t think anyone expects to work in the Oval Office or Google’s awesome office complex, but something a little more decent and livable isn’t too much to ask for, right? Maybe a full-sized wall or some natural light! Hell, a door would be a major improvement!
Tags: cubicles, office cubicles shrinking, office space per worker shrinking, cubicles disappearing, cubicles ending, Andrew Laing, International Facility Management Association, DEGW North America, workplace trends, office trends, cubicle farms, office design trends, death of the cubicle
