Open offices initially seem like a smart financial choice. Companies can fit more employees into the same square footage, reducing rent costs per person. The setup costs are also lower—no expensive walls, fewer separate spaces, and simpler ventilation and lighting systems. For the finance department, the numbers look appealing in the short term.
But this apparent saving comes with a heavy price that becomes visible only later. Scientific research repeatedly shows that open offices have negative effects on employees' health, satisfaction, and productivity. Remarkably, no study measuring productivity found a positive effect of open offices. The often-heard claim that open offices promote collaboration is also not supported by empirical evidence.
The real costs of an open office are not in the setup but in what you cannot directly measure: reduced productivity, higher absenteeism, increased staff turnover, and dissatisfied employees. These intangible costs accumulate month after month and eventually far exceed the initial savings. What began as a financial advantage becomes an expensive mistake that can take years to rectify.
Related:
- An increase of 10 dB noise in the workplace reduces productivity by 5%
- Large organizations extinguish employees' passion
- Employees with a private office have 70% more face-to-face interaction compared to employees in an open workspace
- Active noise-cancelling headphones have no effect on your ability to concentrate in open office spaces
