United States journalist for the Portland Journal Edward Marshall, recently predicted the end of ’cubedom’ which he related to the popular partitioned working space with a boxed in desk and office chair for each worker which is apparent in many call centres. He said that by giving employees individual boxes to work in, "a premium is put on efficiency rather than relationships" and relationships begin to reduce to "transactions" only.

He also claims it also hampers teamwork when soon after a meeting, members of the team all disappear back to their secluded office desk within their own semi-closed areas.

Mr Marshall further describes the current move for more openness in the office is a quiet movement to "tear down the walls that exist between us".

In his opinion the solution is:

Having the physical office furniture and design that serve the work culture, rather than having the work culture be a reaction to a design done by the facilities department.

A lot of the move to open up working systems could be attributed to workers who bring their outside experience into the workplace.

Many thousands of businesses have had to ban employees from using social networking sites because they are thought to be seriously affect productivity. One employment law firm, has claimed 69% of outlawed use these sites even despite 12% of bosses standing behind employee’s office chairs and checking their web pages during work time.