Why Office Pods Are The Future of Work

May 11, 2023 3:17 PM

In 2013, the global market for pods was roughly 1,000 units. Now it is tens of thousands of pods. "We’ve seen over 200 manufacturers pop up globally." A recent study found that office pods are more cost-effective than constructing new meeting rooms. This has huge implications for the massive amount of underprepared office spaces across the U.S. – and could save the industry over 30 billion dollars between now and 2030. /// According to a Cushman & Wakefield study, over 41% of the office field needs to be refurbished in the US alone. That’s 2.6 billion square feet of vacant and inadequate office space that “hasn’t kept pace with demands to support hybrid working and efficiency priorities.”
posted by folklore724 (13 comments total)

This seems to be a press release from a pod manufacturer… wish there was some more objective meat to the post.
posted by not just everyday big moggies at 3:31 PM on May 11, 2023 [9 favorites]

the pods are weird and the worst thing is trying to find an open one when everyone has already claimed one but anything is better than the open office layouts of all the hip offices of the 2010s, just absolute chaos. thankfully i work from home and don’t have to travel to the hq anymore to work in office, so my whole house is my office pod
posted by dis_integration at 3:34 PM on May 11, 2023

It's like a porta potty, but for work bullshit?
posted by entropone at 3:41 PM on May 11, 2023 [5 favorites]

god seriously though, i have to go back to the office 3 days a week now and half the time is spent on zooom with people who are WFH that day and / or the person in the office next door and it makes me lose my mind. i don't know what the solution is but "have way fewer meetings but do them in person when possible" seems like a start.
posted by capnsue at 3:41 PM on May 11, 2023

"Pods! Some of the advantages of working from home, only with a commute! Here, in the office! where you can watch them... sitting in a chair." is a heck of a sales pitch, and I can see why it appeals to some kinds of management, but man... the quiet, the calm, the privacy, the sense of control, the ability to actually get work done, that is why people want to work from home.
posted by atomo at 3:49 PM on May 11, 2023 [4 favorites]

My company is building out office space as fast as we can get property managers/contractors/city planning departments/et. al. to get onboard with the winning team (us), and so far, no pods. Lots and lots of tiny conference rooms meant for a single person (or maybe two) to WebEx into a meeting somewhere else, so that is different lately. But generally, we are all full-on AVCN setups with speakers/mics in the ceiling and cameras that follow who is talking and whatnot.

Although, I did tour California State University Fullerton with my niece a couple months ago, and their big library/study areas did have some pods.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 3:50 PM on May 11, 2023

ohmygodshootmenow.

Not only do those single pod fishbowl bar-height chair-and-feet configuration look wildly uncomfortable for long-term work, there is no place to store notebooks or notes or files or staplers or anything else that supports anything beyond a 100% in the cloud job function. Is the assumption that the person also has a dedicated desk and the have to re-locate every time the have a video meeting?

And they’re soundproof, right? What about air circulation and disinfection? If it did have a decent enough air purification system installed, any chance it’s whisper-quiet for the sanity of the people permanently seated next to it?

These would be hell for anyone with even a smidge of claustrophobia. And - and if these are being deployed as office-alternatives, anyone sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day needs at least a temporary bit of a feeling of privacy - to stretch, maybe do chair exercises, check your teeth in a mirror, etc. Those things look like a hellscape to me. The teeny conference rooms? Maybe. Maybe. If they’re using up extra space in the foyer or something.
posted by Silvery Fish at 4:08 PM on May 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

It's like a porta potty, but for work bullshit?

¿Por qué no los dos?
posted by Hairy Lobster at 4:15 PM on May 11, 2023

heck, you could combine the walls of adajacent pods, save money that way ... i call them "rooms."
posted by user92371 at 4:16 PM on May 11, 2023 [3 favorites]

Another really dumb idea whose time has apparently come — or should I say 'come round at last'?
posted by jamjam at 4:17 PM on May 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

When they built the last bldg I worked in (c 2000), included in the design were "huddle rooms," meant for meetings of 4-5 people. Inexplicably, they had a lock on the door, and were furnished with an armchair. They quickly came to be known as "cuddle rooms," and after a condom wrapper was found in one of the armchairs, all the locks were removed from the doors.
posted by ackptui at 4:27 PM on May 11, 2023 [2 favorites]

...and after a condom wrapper was found in one of the armchairs, all the locks were removed from the doors.

Ew. Would have been better to weld the doors shut.
posted by The Tensor at 4:35 PM on May 11, 2023

We have one of these Framery phone booths in our office and they're okay for short calls. I wouldn't want to work for multiple hours in one, it's too cramped. And the ventilation fan trips out every so often and when that's offline you can last about 5 minutes in one before you overheat.
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:37 PM on May 11, 2023