Do you work in your own office, or in a sea of cubicles?
Open-plan offices are much more conducive to illness, report Australian experts on workplace health. Not only do these newsroom-style offices cause higher rates of stress, high blood pressure and the flu, they also make employees feel insecure and aggressive.
Public health expert Dr. Vinesh Oommen from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, reviewed all past research into how open-plan workplaces affect workers.
“The evidence we found was absolutely shocking,” he said. “In 90 per cent of research, the outcome of working in an open-plan office was seen as negative.” He and other researchers say that employees are more productive and happy if they work in private, closed-in offices. So much for sharing creative juices!
