I recently saw the image below in an advertisement for a financial services company (name/initials removed by me) and shuddered at the depressing visual from above. The big-brother-esque, ceiling mounted camera view shows dozen-ish men and 2 or 3 women (I think) in the midst of a workday. Their entire existence for a majority of their waking hours limited to what appears to be a 5ftx5ft open-plan workspace, uncomfortable (at least non-ergonomic) seating, lunch, drinks, coats, and other personal belongings strewn about, and screens dominating their perspectives. Some have looked away from the dual monitors to the handheld devices, two coworkers ‘collaborating’ by one standing over another’s shoulder, left hand on a keyboard and right on a mouse.
I wonder what happened to the person whose coat on the chair provides cushion to a recent delivery, their phone off its cradle, and the sandwich bag unattended at the table. Their exit seems to have been in a rush. Little if any personal affects adorn a place where the humans will spend the daylight hours. One person seems to have carried in a digital picture frame to maintain a semblance of an era gone by. The pixelated image seems to show an older male worker, who might remember the impersonal cubicle that at least afforded a space he might have called his own.
I asked http://www.google.com for an image of a workspace from the early 1900s and was shown this file available via Getty Images. The machines look different, there are no women in the view, but the narrow aisles, the proximity, the daily grind all appear eerily similar.
How little has changed in the 125 years.