In the past few years, U.S. workers have seen a reduction in just about everything … including the size of their cubicles.
That’s right. Employees’ work spaces have been shrinking at such a slow rate that many failed to take notice. But the average “cube” has definitely gotten smaller.
In fact, according to the International Facility Management Association, the average U.S. office worker had 90 square feet of work space back in 1994. That same worker, however, only had 75 square feet last year.
And it’s not just the rank-and-file workers who have been impacted. The IFMA research also found that senior company officials who enjoyed an average of 115 square feet of office space back in 1994 were down to 96 square feet in 2010 — hardly enough room to practice putting.
Why the shrinkage of cube space? It’s a cost-cutting tactic companies have been employing for years to combat the rapidly rising rates of commercial business space.