[cauterized]

The problem is that if just two or three people like the lively, chatty open office, it ruins it for everyone else whose productivity suffers by an order of magnitude in a noisy environment.

It's basically impossible these days to find an office where someone who needs quiet to concentrate can get work done effectively.

Whereas in an office where quiet is the norm, you can always go to the kitchen if you really want to chat.

[Markoff]

well you can always buy noise cancellation headphones, though i personally hate open office space too, i would rather work for less money in normal office than for more in open office

[throwaway9475]

There are several problems with this, namely: they don't work as well for loud conversation (they're more for things like the drone of an airplane engine). They're also not necessarily comfortable to wear for long periods of time. But most importantly, why is it so hard for people to just, respectfully, shut the hell up? I work (and worked) with people who practically yell during Google Hangouts and don't go to conference rooms, or who joke around all day. I've worked in theee separate open environments and a handful of people have always had volume issues which ruin it for everyone else. Luckily I can work remote now, but why is it so hard to be considerate of others?