In recent eld , many troupe have switch in their cubicles foropen floor plan — a modulation from consummate , gray honeycombs to collaboration - based bullpens where you no longer have to enquire what crunchy , pungent repast your coworker is having for tiffin . But as businesses look to return their employee to office buildings as cautiously as potential in the post - pandemic era , the palisade - off jail cell of the former twentieth century could be the best choice .
Michael Boonshoft , a representative from Cushman & Wakefield , a commercial-grade tangible estate house mathematical function out unexampled office plans for its client , toldWIREDthat people can expect to see “ a lot of plexiglass . ”
“ Having that splitter will make people experience safe . That carapace between desk will be really of import , ” he tell .
More than 1 million proletarian have already gone back to work at Cushman & Wakefield properties in China , where safety precautions admit temperature checkpoint , masquerade party , sanitizer , disposable desk cover , desk dividers , and a committedness to societal distancing in meetings and other open sphere . For business that do n’t have enough substantial footage to keep individual workspaces at least 6 animal foot from each other — and do n’t have the time or money needed for a full - fledged renovation — cell are an loose way to lessen the chance that germs will diffuse between neighboring coworkers .
“ Partitions are really hot right now , ” Ben Waber , president and atomic number 27 - founder of workplace analytics software provider Humanyze , toldWIRED .
While cubicle , societal distancing , and other condom precautions settle into the class of what Boonshoft calls “ quick- and cheap - to - implement estimate , ” some company are explore more controversial technology to keep their employee goodly . consult firm PricewaterhouseCoopers , for object lesson , has design an app - establish tool that can dog employees ’ location in an post through their smartphones . Then , if someone try positive for COVID-19 , they can expend the data for contact - trace to pinpoint other workers who may be at risk of infection .
continue to work from home will likely remain the safest course of action of natural action for many companies for the foreseeable future . If you work for one of them , here areseven waysto remain productive in your temporary home situation .
[ h / tWIRED ]
