The privacy point is important. Who would opt for a shared space if they could have their own? Backpackers stay in youth hostel dormitories, but that is because they cannot afford to pay for privacy. Hotels do not ask business travellers whether they would like to have their own rooms or shared ones, because they know the answer. Airlines can charge considerably more for seats that give you some distance from your neighbours.
隱私十分重要。如果能擁有自己的辦公室，誰會選擇共享辦公區呢？揹包客們會選擇青年旅社的宿舍，但那是因為他們掏不起維護自己隱私的錢。酒店不會詢問商旅人士是想單獨住、還是想與他人合住，因為它們知道答案。對於那些讓你和鄰座保持一定間距的艙位，航空公司的收費要高得多。
Whatever small gains open-plan offices do offer in enhanced communication are, in any event, wiped out by the loss of productivity. We do not need academic studies to tell us people get less done when they have to listen to their neighbours' conversations and telephone calls. Once again, a commonsense reference to life outside the office suffices: libraries have a rule of silence because it allows people to work.
無論開放式辦公室為增進溝通貢獻了何種微薄之力，它都被工作效率的降低所抹消。我們不需要學術研究結果就懂得：人們在工作時，若無法躲開鄰座的交談與電話，他們的效率就會降低。再者，參考職場之外的一個常識，就足以說明這個問題：圖書館都有一條保持安靜的.規定，因為這可以讓人安心工作。
It is not just the distractions of open-plan offices that lower productivity. A recent article in the Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management said that employees in open-plan offices were more prone to eye, nose and throat irritations, and more likely to come down with flu.
開放式辦公室造成工作效率下降的原因不只是分神。《亞太健康管理期刊》(Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management)最近刊登的一篇文章指出，開放式辦公室員工的眼睛、鼻子和、喉嚨更容易產生疼痛感，染上流感的機率也更大。
Open-plan offices may offer companionship, but that assumes you like the people whose space you share. It is surely more comfortable to be able to pop into the private office of those you want to see.
開放式辦公室或許會給你帶來友誼，但前提是你喜歡那個與你共享辦公空間的人。當你想與某人交談時，能去他的私人辦公室裡談話，無疑會讓人感覺更為自在。
So why are most offices these days open-plan? Because they cost less. The Asia Pacific Journal article put the saving at up to 20 per cent. Not only do open-plan offices allow companies to eliminate the cost of all those walls; they can also fit far more people into the same space.
那麼，為什麼如今的辦公室大多設計成開放式的呢？因為這能降低成本。《亞太健康管理期刊》上的那篇文章稱，公司將因此節省至多20%的成本。開放式辦公室不僅令公司省掉了建造牆壁的成本，還可在同一辦公區間容納更多的員工。
