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After two years of remote working, many white-collar workers are finding it harder to concentrate in open-plan offices.
PHOTO: UNSPLASH
Emma Jacobs
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Employees at Levenfeld Pearlstein, a Chicago law firm, are getting ready for an office move in January – from the middle of the city’s business district to the riverside – by getting rid of the work detritus on their desks and taking home their personal possessions. Not only will the new workspace be smaller (from 53,000 sq ft to about 37,500 sq ft) but there will also be fewer assigned offices.
It’s a move that Mr Kevin Corrigan, the chief operations officer, anticipates might trigger upset. “Some people are going to feel, ‘I’ve worked hard for my office, I’ve come up the ranks. Now you are going to reduce the size of the office. I might not even have one.’ It’ll be a change for people.”
