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For workers who spend large chunks of their weekdays in a cubicle, the word "cell" might come to mind to describe the short walls that at once confine and expose them. But as hated as these "cube farms" are, they have their good and bad points. For the companies that use them, cubicles are the most reasonable and efficient way to give their many workers a bit of space to call their own. As "cube farms" become more and more common, it's clear that the cost savings are winning out over individual comfort.

CONS
One of the greatest frustrations of working in a cube farm is without a doubt the noise level. There's never a shortage of distractions, from phone conversations and the clicking of computer keyboards to the sound of a neighbor eating their lunch at their desk. Any pet peeves you have that your cube neighbor embodies are extremely difficult to ignore when a flimsy wall is all that stands between the two of you, and all you have to do is stand up to be looking straight into each other's desk area.

Hand in hand with the noise issue is the lack of privacy. It's next to impossible to discuss confidential or sensitive information in a cubicle without practically announcing it to those sitting around you. A cubicle has no door to shut to signal that you desire a few minutes without interruption. And often only a handful of conference rooms are available for the cube farm folk to share. These conference rooms can be in high demand for scheduled meetings or conference calls, so you might be out of luck if you need a place for a spur-of-the-moment conversation about confidential material.

PROS
While the main cons of cubicles tend to affect the individual employees, the pros largely benefit the employer. Simply put, cubicles are cost and space efficient. They enable companies to take full advantage of their office buildings by fitting more workers within a set amount of space, plus the materials to assemble cubicles are cheap. The short, lightweight walls and shelves of cubicles don't cost nearly as much to ship as the materials for an office. And once delivered, cubicles are adjustable enough to fit practically any floorplan, unlike an office which must be designed into the building's construction plans.

Cubicles might not make everyone happy (far from it, in fact), but it's hard to deny that they're flexible and economical. Some also argue that they help to promote an open corporate culture, where people's doors are always open (or in other words, nonexistent). People can stay more "in the know." It's also easier to find coworkers as you wander the pathways between the cubes or see if they're available to talk as you approach their area. In a large company, it's easier to put a face to a name since everyone is more or less out in the open.

Besides cost savings, the idea behind cubicles is that communication will happen more easily since people are physically closer to their coworkers and it's easy to have group conversations among the low walls. Of course more open communication, like cubicles themselves, can be both a blessing and a curse. Just ask any worker who has tried to block out all the communication going on around them just to finish a project in their cube.

But we can still fantasize about a time when cubicles weren't the norm. It's no wonder that one of the first things the main character does in the movie "Office Space," when he starts rebelling against corporate life, is knock down the walls of his cubicle and bask in his own makeshift office. Although most workers sympathize with this character, the companies are the ones who have to make the business decision in the end. Unfortunately many of them find that the pros of cubicles outweigh their cons.

Learn more about this author, M. Sparga.
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