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Comment by nils-m-holm | Hacker News Reader

Noise, permanent distraction, regular interruption, no privacy, and people spreading germs all over the place. No wonder that people get sick! I would rather be poor than work in a shared office one more time. (I have experienced both, so I know what I'm talking about.)

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I was just reading about a "Mars study" where 6 people were in close quarters for 8 months to examine the behavioral effects of a long-term space mission. https://www.apnews.com/bafab7eaf7be45d388f11ef81e7f15d8/Mars...

The article didn't say much about the results, other than:

> We’ve learned, for one thing, that conflict, even in the best of teams, is going to arise

I immediately though of my experience with open office plans.

I never worked in an open office (not for long, we had an open area) but worked in a 4 person office and agree with you. The stress of being constantly interrupted and not able to finish the work, can reasonably be assumed to lower the immune system and make people sick.

So have I. I wouldn't.

I bet it depends on how poor you were, and how noisy the open plan was. Tolerances also vary.

And higher stress levels from working in open offices.

Especially the noise is wearing me down.

How is it like in the US? I've mostly had positive experiences in open offices (except for an annoying co-worker or two), but then again, I've never had my own office, only worked from home a few times.

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