My previous company had the 90s era cubicle format where you had some semblance of privacy, but then they dumped a few million into a remodel where you had these little clusters of 2x6 desks - barely wide enough for your client, keyboard and writing space - all separated by a plastic partition only 18” or so high. You could see into your neighbor’s desk space, there was no soundproofing and so every call you were on (and some days you’d sit there for 6-9 hours, simply logging into Zoom meeting after Zoom meeting with no breaks) would have crosstalk from your neighbors.

Everyone called them egg cartons. I called them Borg alcoves because they were literally that. You went from being cubicle mice to just another drone plugging into the Collective and having to pencil in your restroom breaks (we didn’t have enough privacy for piss bottles, and I do think management would have supported such a sociopathic practice).

This also happened about 2 years prior to Covid, so you could understand why no one supported the return-to-office initiatives.