Question for cubicle dwellers

Site Notices

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Question for cubicle dwellers

Posted: 4/14/2014 1:34:03 PM EDT

OK, you guys that work out of a cubicle I have a question.

My company is looking to fit more workers into less real estate, and to do this they're remodeling our office and giving us significantly less cube space. It's a reduction in space of about 30%. We all have modest single cubes currently, we're going to a two-to-a-cube system.

Is this a general business trend? Or is this a sign that my company is desperate to cut costs? Most employees are not happy about the whole deal. Wondering if it's time to start shopping my resume...

Posted: 4/14/2014 3:10:50 PM EDT

[#1]

I don't think I have ever seen that.
even in the days where there were no "cube"s we still have a cube worth of space to use as our own.

does this mean they are doubling the work force? or moving people from another location in?

I can't see how that would save them money unless they were doing one or the other.

Posted: 4/14/2014 3:11:49 PM EDT

[#2]

they are going to stick two guys in a regular size cube?

Posted: 4/14/2014 4:13:50 PM EDT

[#3]

I've seen crazy tiny cubes (especially in "hoteling" offices) and I've seen "collaborative" offices with low cube walls, but I'm not sure I've even heard of cramming 2 people to a cubicle. I'm not sure if it's cost cutting or just bad decision-making, but that would be terrible.

Posted: 4/14/2014 4:56:59 PM EDT

[#4]

Your employer is probably just trying to assert dominance so you'll see them as the pack leader.

Do they ever reverse bad decisions?

Posted: 4/14/2014 5:48:59 PM EDT

[#5]

when I was in a call center I used to work in a cube like this but without the short wall between the two people who had their back to each other

I had a normal cube at my contract position until they decided to put the team I'm on in another building, now we have short walls and no privacy, but it's still one person to a cube

Posted: 4/15/2014 4:10:45 AM EDT

[#6]

An office I worked at had 9' cubicles with an L shaped workspace with a 45 degree piece (normally where the keyboard and monitor sit) in the right angle. During projects, they'd jam two contractors in a cube by having them sit at the end corners of the L. Back in the 17" CRT days, there was no room for the keyboard and monitor, however if you place the pc tower under the tabletop it was possible to set up dual 17" LCD displays.

Posted: 4/15/2014 4:14:54 AM EDT

[#7]

Quote History

Quoted:
I don't think I have ever seen that.
even in the days where there were no "cube"s we still have a cube worth of space to use as our own.

does this mean they are doubling the work force? or moving people from another location in?

I can't see how that would save them money unless they were doing one or the other.

View Quote

You're correct. It's not really "more workers" it's the same number (at the moment). Company has not experienced much growth over the last 15 years, mostly shrinkage (layoffs and selling business units).

At one point I'd guess workers (in current cube setup) occupied 10-12 floors of the building. The buzz I'm hearing is we'll be down to 4 floors when all is said & done.

Posted: 4/15/2014 4:17:52 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
OK, you guys that work out of a cubicle I have a question.

My company is looking to fit more workers into less real estate, and to do this they're remodeling our office and giving us significantly less cube space. It's a reduction in space of about 30%. We all have modest single cubes currently, we're going to a two-to-a-cube system.

Is this a general business trend? Or is this a sign that my company is desperate to cut costs? Most employees are not happy about the whole deal. Wondering if it's time to start shopping my resume...

View Quote

Depends on the price per sq. ft. of office space. I'm sure in skyscraper environments it's relatively common. In the 'burbs, not so much.

Posted: 4/15/2014 4:27:53 AM EDT

[#9]

losing a "location' means leave while you can. don't be the last to turn out the lights.
if they have been laying off people and shrinking, unless they are doing something that needs to be bought out, they aren't doing well, and aren't going to do well in the future.

Posted: 4/15/2014 4:34:17 AM EDT

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:
when I was in a call center I used to work in a cube like this but without the short wall between the two people who had their back to each other
http://www.cubesolutions.com/used_pages/used_images/UCUBE743-24801-PLAN-525.jpg
I had a normal cube at my contract position until they decided to put the team I'm on in another building, now we have short walls and no privacy, but it's still one person to a cube

View Quote

I've only seen pics of the new cubes but they are similar to what is in your pic. Don't have a tape with me but I estimate size of current cube about 8' x 8' with 5' high walls, lots of shelving and drawer space. My floor is currently packed. Customer support folks are rightfully concerned about increased cross-talk; men's john is already jammed up at certain times of day; there is often a line at the kitchen area. All "first world problems" sure but it's sounding like we're getting packed in like an Indian call center.

So again, just wondering if this is a general trend or company-specific cost-cutting. FWIW the business unit I'm in is profitable.

Posted: 4/15/2014 4:56:04 AM EDT

[#11]

Some of our guys share a "bull pen" cubicle that's a little bigger than a regular cubicle but able to accommodate four people. Yes, I've seen it for a few years now, especially if they redo the office.

Posted: 4/15/2014 8:48:57 AM EDT

[#12]

Add night shift and double real estate.

Posted: 4/15/2014 9:50:48 AM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:
Some of our guys share a "bull pen" cubicle that's a little bigger than a regular cubicle but able to accommodate four people. Yes, I've seen it for a few years now, especially if they redo the office.

View Quote

Other than the "bullpen" design, there's also the "pit." Line up four desks in row on each side, surrounded by a 5' wall or sound barrier, with an entrance on one end. If you get lucky, you can get use tall file cabinets to acts as partial walls.

The worst workspace I had was working in a storage closet. The IT department we were doing the project for had multiple open offices, but refused to let us use them. The cleaning crew would unplug our computers every night to plug in their cordless sweepers. Our project lead never pushed back or conveyed our displeasure to the manager he reported to.

Posted: 4/15/2014 1:58:40 PM EDT

[#14]

If my company ever put another person in my current workspace, I would leave very quickly. I value my privacy and have skills that would hopefully get me a new job right away.

Posted: 4/15/2014 2:45:02 PM EDT

[#15]

Thanks folks, most replies confirm what I'm thinking...

Posted: 4/15/2014 3:16:05 PM EDT

[#16]

The new trend in cubicles is called ABW Coming to an office near you.

My orientation on how to behave in the new space is tomorrow.

Posted: 4/15/2014 5:19:51 PM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:
The new trend in cubicles is called ABW Coming to an office near you.

My orientation on how to behave in the new space is tomorrow.

View Quote

Oh shit...

Posted: 4/15/2014 5:27:50 PM EDT

[#18]

They reset our cube layout a few months ago. They had the plans drawn up, which included 3 people (myself included) having our cube size cut by about 30%. My VP came by and asked me what I thought about the layout, and I told him it was bogus that I was losing part of my cubicle. He looked at the blueprint, I showed him the reduction in size. He said that wasn't going to happen, went back and made the facilities guys redraw the plans without reducing our cubicle sizes.

The point of my shitty story is that if you're valuable, your employer will want you to be comfortable with your working conditions. If they don't care, or can't afford to accommodate you, the writing is on the wall...

Posted: 4/17/2014 5:02:42 PM EDT

[#19]

Quote History

Quoted:
The new trend in cubicles is called ABW Coming to an office near you.

My orientation on how to behave in the new space is tomorrow.

View Quote

I need to get out of the cubicle environment

my company just moved into a new high rise and our cubes are a bit over 6' wide...I'm 6'7" tall and sitting at my desk I can touch both walls...our last office had 2 per cubes but with a lot of desk space and doors..

now it's an open floor plan with 5ft (I think) walls and white noise generators..

Posted: 4/17/2014 5:44:44 PM EDT

[#20]

Haha I got into a shouting match with the boss while moving into the new office (10 years ago) before the white noise generators were running...all my coworkers heard me call them suckups and brown-nosers. Still makes me laugh...

Posted: 4/17/2014 6:38:41 PM EDT

[#21]

I share a cube.

Ah, how the mighty have fallen.

(used to have a HUGE personal office, complete with door)

Anyway, it is two cubes worth of space, more or less, with two people in it. No partition separating us. In our case it is do to space issues. There are a few others I can think of. It isn't unheard of in my parts.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Question for cubicle dwellers

General » Urban Commandos

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us