HILLSBORO, Ore. - Cubicles - the American worker cannot escape them. They represent what we love about productivity and everything we hate about confinement.
"It's somewhat like a prison," said Intel employee Grant McMullen, adding he supports his company's latest effort to change its corporate culture.
"They're no longer isolated in these big cubicles," said Dusty Robbins, a director of operations at Intel's Hillsboro office.
During a tour, Robbins showed KATU News how their new 'pilot' office has replaced old gray cubicles with open spaces, brighter lighting and golden-hued furniture. Desks are also more flexible.
"What we have is the ability to raise or lower (the desks), whether you're a sitter a stander or in-between," Robbins said during a demonstration.
Why change things up?
Robbins said they are learning important lessons from other companies like Google and Amazon. Specifically, that office space should be a place you want to work and play in.
"Over the years, we've forgotten the play side. And I would say that for those who work hard a little down time actually helps creativity," he said.
In other words, we're seeing even the most rigid institutions try to think outside the box.
Companies like Weiden + Kennedy in the Pearl District are taking the concept of the creative work space to a whole new level.
Inside their industrial-themed office, workers are free to watch television whenever they please. During a tour of the ad agency du jour, KATU News saw employees talking freely, kicking a soccer ball around, working out in the gym, and passing a football across a room. Kegs are usually stocked throughout the building and tired employees are welcome to take naps in dimly lit rooms.
It appears to be a surreal environment, until you remember this is the same agency that made its name telling Nike fans to "Just do it."
Intel is learning it must change its workplace philosophy too if it wants to keep employees happy.
The new pilot project is boosting morale for employees like Claudia McCarter, who has a background in interior design.
"It's going to make people want to come to work more," she said, likening the new look to a livingroom rather than an institution.
There's another added perk. Those who want to vent their frustrations can now play Nintendo Wii or Guitar Hero in the lobby.
"This is going to take too much of our time if we have this everyday!" said employee Paolo Aseron, following a Wii boxing match that left him tired and sweaty.
Intel is testing the new work space in just one small section of their Hillsboro campus. If it helps productivity, they will likely expand.
In general, experts say happy employees work better with others, are less likely to get sick and complain less.
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