I've worked in a ~6'-height cube farm more dense and plain than any of these photos, but actually more pleasant than most of these look, and better than most open-plan offices I've seen.
With cubes, most of the engineers didn't need headphones nor medication to focus, unlike open-plan. And there was a lot of stopping in others' cube doorways for quick meetings, and temporarily wheeling chairs into the hall.
The cube partitions were finished in a coarse weave of gray cloth, and there were copious T-shaped pins, which people weren't shy about using to hang project artifacts, decorations, and amusements on the insides and outsides of their cubes.
No motivational posters, and I don't recall any soul-sucking corporate art.
A clearing had some small round tables that people sometimes used for meetings. And for "Friday at 4" socializing, the tables were pushed out of the way, and someone brought in big galvanized tubs of ice and beverages.
WFH (with occasional in-person) is best overall, but cube farms can be better than they're made out to be.
When I was IT at Galyan's corporate, they used an old supermarket as an office building. There wasn't even cubicle walls. My "office" had taped lines on the floor to delineate my "boundaries".
It was loud and distracting... one of the only jobs I ever quit without another job to go because I hated it so much.
I remain of the firm opinion that the only reason people think 6' cube farms are even acceptable is because they're being compared to the hell of fully-open-plan offices.
Every office worker should have the ability to close a door to preserve their privacy and productivity, even if it's on a space no larger than the cube would be.
(It is not at all improbable that my vehemence in this matter is related to my mild-to-moderate ADHD, which made my stint in a 6' cube farm extremely frustrating due to the constant distractions.)
Cubicles were invented in the 1960s to provide a superior and more private alternative to open plan (bullpen) offices of the 1950s [1].
The silly part of all this is the people arguing for open plan offices in the present/recent past as a “superior” and more humanizing and collaborative environment when cubicles were literally invented as a more humane option.
With cubes, most of the engineers didn't need headphones nor medication to focus, unlike open-plan. And there was a lot of stopping in others' cube doorways for quick meetings, and temporarily wheeling chairs into the hall.
The cube partitions were finished in a coarse weave of gray cloth, and there were copious T-shaped pins, which people weren't shy about using to hang project artifacts, decorations, and amusements on the insides and outsides of their cubes.
No motivational posters, and I don't recall any soul-sucking corporate art.
A clearing had some small round tables that people sometimes used for meetings. And for "Friday at 4" socializing, the tables were pushed out of the way, and someone brought in big galvanized tubs of ice and beverages.
WFH (with occasional in-person) is best overall, but cube farms can be better than they're made out to be.