Why we’re not all open to open-plan offices

Working together in the same space can encourage interaction and sharing of ideas, but it can also push quieter people further into their ‘shells’

Open-plan offices can make teamwork easier, but they do not suit employees who perform better with minimal distractions. Picture: iStock

META’S headquarters in Menlo Park, California, has the world’s biggest open-plan office. MPK 20 consists of a single 430,000 sq ft room and is designed to accommodate 2,800 people.

It was built in 2015, when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he was tearing down the traditional office and opting for a large open-plan design to encourage employee interaction and allow collaboration and creativity to flourish.