Abstract
A legacy of COVID-19 has been to foreground the office as a problematic rather than permanent feature of contemporary work. The office may be losing its dominance over many working lives. Unworking focuses on this and other changes in the contemporary office. In explaining these changes and anticipating the future, readers are implored to discard traditional assumptions and embrace a workplace that is “more social, sustainable, sentient, elastic, fluid and personalized” (p. 14).
To understand how the modern office evolved, we need to “retrace our steps and go on a journey from 1920 to now” (p. 16). This subject-matter makes up Part I (Chapters 1 to 3). Part II (Chapters 4 to 13) highlights changes in physical and organizational characteristics of the office including employees’ work and well-being. Part III examines how particular external shocks influenced the purpose and design of the office (Chapter 14) while the concluding Chapter 15 concentrates on proposals for a more fulfilling office experience.
The authors argue that since 1920 Frederick Winslow Taylor’s ideas have had a major impact on office design. Efficiency “was the main consideration behind the selection of every design for every aspect, from furniture to facades and floor layouts” (p. 21). Modern architecture along lines developed by Frank Lloyd Wright and the Bauhaus school were consistent with the corporate emphasis on efficiency, while Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s massive 1960s Union Carbide tower on Park Avenue in New York City epitomized efficiency, with centralized temperature and light control, high speed lifts, and lines of desks and later cubicles. This singular pursuit of efficiency, however, had dysfunctional consequences including “sick building syndrome” with symptoms including employee “lethargy, stuffiness and headaches” (p. 30). Companies realized that anonymity and lack of control were restricting employee productivity, leading to marginal changes in office design without any shift in theoretical perspective until after World War II.
In Chapter 2, the authors argue that “the social democratic or community office grew out of the darkness of fascism and a determination to rebuild Europe’s shattered economies . . . after 1945” (p. 34). The new model emphasized human factors and social networks reflecting the rising power of white-collar unions in northern Europe and Scandinavia. In the 1960s, some companies adopted Quickborner’s concept of Bürolandschaft (office landscaping) to replace rigid, rectangular lines with flowing contours based on designs aimed at increasing interpersonal communication and providing a sense of democracy and community in the office (p. 35). The idea of office as community was realized in Herman Hertzberger’s office building in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. Here employees worked in teams located in a series of “work islands” that could be decorated according to worker preferences. The social democratic office was no longer designed to maximize efficiency but rather to enable group work and for positive psychological effect (p. 38). The concept of a more human-centered workplace also informed urban planning and landscape architecture. Smaller scale, mixed-use neighborhoods were inspired by the medieval village, hilltop settlements, and bridge communities. In the 1990s, Silicon Valley companies such as Apple and Pixar extended the social democratic office to include campuses with lush natural landscapes, spectacular architecture, and colorful spaces designed to foster communities of practice.
By the beginning of the millennium, the social democratic office was being challenged. Knowledge workers began using mobile technology to work outside of the office. Advances in IT were enabling these experts to collaborate across time and space. The network emerged as the key organizing concept with “the office building as one node in a dynamic organizational network, not a static artefact that stands alone” (p. 48). The office became a flexible provider of training and health-related services, responsive to changes in demand for office space. Meanwhile, recent advances in internet and AI applications fostered the development of “intelligent buildings,” which monitor lighting, heating, and space allocation using predictive analytics to guide decision-making.
Although informative and commendable for attempting to explain changes in the office with reference to managerial ideology and broader political antecedents, Unworking has three limitations. First, no theoretical model guides the analysis. Second, although Taylorist ideology may have shaped early 20th-century building and office design, the authors ignore the likely impact of subsequent management ideologies, particularly the Human Relations school of the 1940s and 1950s and the socio-technical systems thinking that was influential from the late 1960s to the 1970s. The former viewed workers as members of work groups whose satisfaction at work was likely to improve productivity, while the latter perspective emphasized the interdependence of human and technical factors in influencing worker performance and well-being. Third, only three political-economic events—World War II, the global financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic—are invoked as causal variables with no detailed examination of their impact and the possible role of other political-economic influences.
Trends in office design described in Part 2 of Unworking are based on extensive exposure to experts at specialist conferences and online discussions, together with selective reference to academic research. In 2015, the authors established an online knowledge exchange, which “acts as a bridge between new research and practice on the ground” (p. 15). However, the data are not systematically codified and analyzed, raising questions about data reliability and validity, and the inferences drawn from these sources. Nevertheless, the 10 short chapters include interesting information and ideas about office innovation. For example, some offices are now providing an “awesome” experience based on academic studies showing that employees are more creative and efficient in some tasks when they experience objects or spaces that inspire a sense of awe (p. 69). We learn that Steve Jobs’ legacy project is Apple’s California headquarters with a circular workplace designed for continuous collaboration (p. 80). Offices can also encourage the inclusion of cognitively and physically diverse individuals by designing spaces for individual contemplation and collective problem-solving. Furthermore, by eliminating the notion of special needs, offices can provide a seamless environment for all. More controversially, management has been introducing AI into offices to comprehensively measure and control both physical (temperature, humidity, air pollution) and employee performance. The authors also argue that worker well-being requires that employees control their immediate environment (p. 166).
The future is visible in firms like Spotify and Salesforce whose employees work in a variety of locations, with the office as resource center. Following COVID-19, health and safety remain a priority, while sustainability, including greening of urban areas as in Blackfriars Crown Court in London, is fast becoming a priority. Interior design aims to support creativity and collaboration, highlighted by McKinsey’s Holborn office in London, which is “flooded with natural light and enriched with conceptual neon art” (p. 202). The office will use space flexibly for various work-related and social purposes. It will co-exist alongside co-working spaces that encourage communication among individuals who share business or occupational interests. AI will be a significant feature, combining algorithmic management with worker control of their immediate environment. Unfortunately, the authors avoid discussing this contradiction.
In sum, although Unworking lacks scientific rigor and avoids controversial issues, it is a lively, readable account of the past, present, and possible future of the office. It should appeal to knowledge workers who remain partially or completely office-bound. Academics interested in how the urban and work environment influence management and worker behavior will find this book especially helpful.