Less work space in bigger companies

I work in a relatively large company, in a medium sized office, we all have good desk areas - although the size of the office means you can hear everyones conversations - there is no privacy. The main issues we have is with over 20 females there is only one females toilet, and almost always a line. The air conditioning is never adequate for all - with tempatures either scorching or freezing. It does seem the focus needs to be placed more strongly on keeping the employees happy - i'm sure we'd all work better with better working conditions

I worked part time in a call centre, so I had a desk that I shared with 2 others on different shifts. Surrounded by other desks with few partitions. Can overhear everyone's conversations. No personal space at all. Basically you are a battery hen expected to lay the golden egg. Don't know how I lasted 9 years!!!!

I don't have a permanent desk, tho i am only a lowly contractor at an IT company and we do this hot-desking thing. Last one in-in the morning gets the kitchen or goes to work across town at one of the clients desks. A great cost management idea that gets the project team members out of bed early! LoL. At my clients place - A Govt agency - they have huge amounts of space compared to us. Do I know where the money is...?

There's a reason the Borg travel in cubes...

I have a lovely desk, about 7ft long, 2ft wide. plenty of room and storage. dont share with anyone and very happy with it. the company I work for are very caring about how the staff are treated.

Our Office is relocating at the end of the year. We will be 'downgrading' from corner shape desks to linear desks, with less overall floor space and catering for more staff!! Its been the hot topic of late and no one is very keen on the idea. Seems that ergonomics does not come into consideration anymore!!

10sq metres isn't bad, my bedroom is 3x4m (it's about a normal sized single bedroom), which is 12sq metres, so I think someone did their maths wrong.

In my old workplace I was housed in a room with a solitary ventilation window located near the ceiling, and a glass panel 'partition' facing my boss's room. My back was to the door and I stare at a blank wall (which is bad feng shui). That said I do have a 0.8m x 1.8m desk, a 0.6m x 3m credenza to work from, and the most amicable and easy going colleague you could have as a roomie. I guess I shouldn't complain though, the junior whom took my old desk has enough desk space to swing a cat.

My workspace is a converted loading bay with a truck sized roller door and false wall between me and the the rest of the staff. I share it with a server farm and 2 aircon units. There is a dull roar from the servers and aircon unit but I have a large desk and the temp is a constant 20C all year round so its not all bad.

I've had really big offices and, at times, have shared conditions such as described by chicken coop. Cramped conditions aren't so bad if you enjoy the company of the people around you. I have a nice office to myself right now, but I miss the interchange of the open plan arrangement at my last employer. That said, when I'm talking to prospective employers I like to see where I'll be situated incase it's not to my liking.