Were offices "unsuccessful"? Because I always assumed the open spaces trend was just pablum being served up by Corporate to take us (engineering) down a notch.
The open work spaces thing too allowed for rapid over-hiring without having to have the real estate to back it up.
Not always. You have to include the fad component. Our company isn't cost constrained, nor were we hiring a ton of new talent. Yet we updated our office layout and furnishings 2x in the last 8 years to look "better."
Never underestimate the desire to keep up with the Joneses.
Those huge open plan offices of the 1970s looked amazing in magazine photo-shoots. If you're C-suite suit you can really preside over a room like that.
Like a newsroom bullpen seen from a balcony above, lots of noise, lots of activity.
It's a just bummer if your job is to think carefully about stuff without distraction.
The open work spaces thing too allowed for rapid over-hiring without having to have the real estate to back it up.