Inside LinkedIn’s New Flagship | WSJ Open Office

LinkedIn’s pre-pandemic plans for its new, flagship office included more than 1,000 desks. After a redesign, it opened with just 569 workstations with over 75 seating types. With dozens of different work settings and conference room setups, the tech company is using its office as a hub for its hybrid workforce.
WSJ gets an exclusive look inside LinkedIn’s new office to see what a true hybrid workplace looks like.
Photo: Karl Mollohan for The Wall Street Journal
0:00 Hybrid workplace
1:00 The pandemic pause
2:06 Co-working spaces
3:24 Neighborhoods replacing desks
5:05 Conference rooms
Open Office
Offices are as unique as the companies they house. This WSJ series takes viewers inside standout spaces to show the amenities-and quirks-that separate them from the rest, as designers and company executives explain the reason behind it all.
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[@meganrosbury3504]

One thing I’m surprised they didn’t incorporate is more monitors. Laptops are handy but I LOVE the faster productivity of a second monitor and it seems lacking in this otherwise lovely office space

[@Summerdee223]

We all have the same laptops at my organization, so each our open offices/seating comes equipped with two large monitors, docking station, ergonomic keyboard and mouse so that you can sit anywhere and be productive.

[@pepsicherry6389]

I hate working on Notebook.

[@painboy66]

I think people can move to an available desk in the visinity whenever they need one.

[@joejohn.]

This is why I don't see myself ever going back to an office. I have my setup with 3 monitors for peak personal productivity, might add a 4th. My personal machine is more powerful than any company laptop I've ever been sent. I have a keyboard with switches that I prefer. I always see other software engineers using macbooks, but I'm not as productive on a laptop. Fully remote since 2014.

[@asanthadenz]

@@joejohn. the new M1 Pro/Ultra laptops are beast for productivity - i usually just dock them onto my dual monitors at work/home

[@alienmoondudes8071]

This work environment seems like a great idea. It reminds me of a library/coffee shop/university campus study spot

[@tethron.]

Nice, they actually made efficient use of the workspaces. A lot of times you see companies put people's desks too close together. these look really good

[@westerboxgaming9006]

I like that they spread people out but as a worker I don’t think I would enjoy it. I like to have my own space and I think that many of there chairs look uncomfortable.

[@RE-xv9fp]

Are you serious? This is horrible, its exactly like a fricking call center. I don't want people sitting next to me looking at my monitor or breath on me. Such a nonsense

[@RaviSharma-bp5di]

My younger brother works at this office! It's beautiful. I am so proud of him!

[@saraeissa4954]

Look at you being all supportive haha! Good for him for working so hard to get there^!

[@RaviSharma-bp5di]

@@saraeissa4954 Thank you :-)

[@chordia919]

Where is this one located?

[@eggciting]

@@chordia919 Mountain View

[@PasserBy869]

We have sleeping areas/rooms in the office, but if I have to choose, I'd rather work from home. The time and effort to commute to and from work is just not worth it.

[@lalakuma9]

75 types of seating is nice, but I wouldn't sit on the non-ergonomic ones for work or my muscles would regret it again.

[@jharonc2582]

The beauty is that you can try it and move on once your muscles say so 🙂

[@TheKaurK]

Also those seats are for people who are in there for half a day or so.

[@HeyMJ.]

Excellent design concepts with bottom-up & top-down productivity models included. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

[@nonyabusiness4899]

this office gives off cafe/university vibes. love it! wouldn't mind spending 8 hours working there.

[@fornello123]

1:25 that vocal fry is next-level

[@MarcusAurelius7777]

Agree no actual voice

[@wildatheart8894]

I worked for the new LinkedIn office in Omaha, Nebraska. I must say, the office also reflects these characters as seen in the video. Very comfortable & efficient environment to work. I look forward to see my company implements this. Great work Linkedin!

[@MitchWebb94]

We have some of these setups in our office, but the thing workers value most is 1. Second screen support and 2. Chairs that support your posture. Many of these do not cater for that, and the workspaces we have that mimic these ideas look nice but are never used.

[@leanneland]

I hope more companies take note of what they’ve done. This is the start of change that’s been needed at offices for way too long. The coffee bar/working area at the entry is brilliant. If our office had this instead of just a bunch of empty desks that look like our old office pre-pandemic I would utilize that space for sure. Right now I’m 100% from home because my setup is built to be more creative to suite my workflow. I’ve had two years to work on it. But this is amazing!

[@alluringgrace413]

Really cool experimentation, the design implementations, considerations that they put into the office space!

[@sjoerdsiemes]

I would love an office like this. I don't mind sitting at my desk for half the day. Or coming into the office. But sometimes you just want a change of scenery. Especially when you are doing creative work. You just want a nice lounge instead of a workstation.

[@YungMomJeans]

This is a great step forward for the future of the workspace. The only big suggestion I'd put in, as a millennial tech worker, is a desperate desire to see office spaces do away with low output, fluorescent lighting. Study after study shows that bright, daylight-balanced light improves productivity, mood, appetite and circadian rhythms (if timed to the rise and set of the sun). It drives me crazy to see these tech companies pass up an opportunity to drastically improve the ambiance of their space time and time again with garbage lighting. Humans didn't spend 150,000 years indoors all day long, and many parts of our biology reflect that. The dream lighting of an office of the future(for me): diffused overhead lighting with an intensity that rises and lowers with the sun throughout the day. Dims and changes to a warmer temperature at sunset with floor/shin level light strips through the office.

[@santimonse]

It was wonderful to imagine your dream lighting. Thanks for sharing.

[@dennis391]

Instead of forcing people back into the office, they take their needs and concerns seriously to create an environment that actually incentivizes people go there. That‘s really cool.

[@Vaporswift]

Love the freedom Linkedin has entrusted to its employees. This will pay off in the long run to build trust between large corporations and their employees.

[@johnzamora4205]

If only education adopted these more productive methods. I know some do but more need too. I enjoyed how they provided space for introverts and extroverts for that reason they won my vote for the best office space. ♥️

[@srikanthsalesforce]

They really care about the employees! Experimenting the office space & offering a hybrid work environment. Much required because of this unending pandemic!

[@alterego157]

If they cared employees would have their own offices instead of working fro airport lounges with laptops on their laps

[@johnnyb.5176]

This is exactly why our company moved its location to SPACES! Needless to say, we love much more now working from office than before the pandemic. I believe hybrid working can really create that work-life balance most of us are looking for!

[@FinancialShinanigan]

Can't wait for comapnies to have beds and build apartments in office space

[@johnl.7754]

If they can get you to work longer hours they will (if it was allowed by law)

[@JasonWee]

bed and apartments??? that is called home... :-s

[@worldcitizeng6507]

That will solve housing crisis in silicone Valley! If they can benefit the community around the area. It would be so beneficial. Example they need office cleaning crew, batista, cooks etc but they don't make LinkedIn money, they need affordable housing . Cleaning crew are needed no matter how high tech companies are.

[@CannabisTechLife]

@@JasonWee That's the joke..

[@federicozimerman8167]

Do they have private sound proof restrooms?

[@ashleyrogers1930]

Be careful with "flexible" jobs. You will end up working more hours than you are paid for. It is easy in getting lost in your job offering work from home or seating options. Many larger companies are starting to offer several conveniences(childcare, restaurants on site, etc) just to get you to stay longer and you don't realize how much you are working. Additionally, these jobs often frown upon those who opt to work from home instead of coming in. All of these conveniences are to make you want to come into the office instead of telling you you have to. It's the old adage you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

[@random-ig6tp]

I mean you have the option to come in or not

[@dovilacus]

I feel like most of the skilled tech/engineering jobs are much more of a... current project defines how much work you have to do. Even if there wasn't this philosophy of working from home combined with workspace, you would end up spending more time at the office and going home thinking of the job. It just comes with the high productivity of modern companies.

[@ashleyrogers1930]

@@random-ig6tp Yes but coming in dictates promotions, raises and what projects you get. They won't explicitly state this but it is true.

[@5thGenNativeTexan]

Here's the reality.... if you are working remotely, there is very very very little reason to go into an office like this to work. As a former office worker, it was already hard to have conference calls in a cube, and the move to remote was much better. I absolutely WON'T go into the office just to "be there" and try to work, as the atmosphere for doing those same conference calls is even worse.

[@MrLeetkrew]

Hit the nail on the head.

[@pipadoepa]

I agree with you partially but I guess everyone's a bit different. I personally would like to have this office to be able to separate work and personal life. Also, while I am in a way more comfortable at home and thus often more productive, I do get these slumps where I lose focus and have too many distractions which can be solved going to the office for a few hours. Plus, even as an introvert, I have to admit that sometimes being able to interact with coworkers IRL is nice.

[@vasachisenjubean5944]

#reality

[@dmitrytsatskin2314]

That's a good idea to have varyable kinds of workplaces. A standard desktop allows to focus better and more cozy workplaces (like a sofa or a bar-chair) seems to serve for more effective communications and brainstormings, for example. As for me - working remotely from home sometimes allows to focus better because no one could interrupt my work, but when working from office I could discuss some things with my colleagues or to catch some ideas those are in the air and to find more creative decisions for ordinary tasks.

[@tiffany6943]

Love this. I wish/hope more companies adapt to this hybrid work.

[@mwmentor]

Some interesting concepts, and I like the posture theory concepts that are being used to encourage freedom of choice in terms of work location. To me it is clear that this is still an experiment in progress that has not got total buy-in just yet. A number of things cause me to think that way, including the amount of space still available in the building which can easily be repurposed for traditional open-plan space. Open plan is a failed experiment, noted for it's impact on productivity, but because it is the cheapest way to build an office interior it continues to remain popular for management. It also implies a lack of trust of employees by management, but that is another conversation. It looks good... I'll wait and see what happens going forward. 👍😄

[@chiliphrosting9059]

bravo to the team that put that put the space together.

[@abdulwahab2179]

What I observe people love friendly and home environment for work instead of treadiational workspace, offices view and environment, and I like that approach

[@leoxiaoyanqu]

This is amazing! Blew my mind completely!

[@supratik.m]

Pretty spacious redocaration. The Postures Matrix seemingly looks like an innovative and invigorating technique. Thanks for sharing. 🙂👍

[@nothin2chere626]

I work in a shared office space now and love the options for seating.

[@syak9818]

this is just like studying at the library or at home, it really depends on ur preference and focus at tht point of time, cos no one can really say studying at home or at library is more productive. this gives people choice and i approve of this

[@doodiomer2464]

Well prepared video, Thanks WSJ team.

[@abhisek7biswas]

loving this concept as the remote workplace needs to be accommodated for the remote working .. i know still in experimenting phase but kudos to the Linkedin's Remote design team

[@bakai.ibraimov]

Wow. Pandemic makes open spaces more friendly, cozy and creative. Thank you sir!

[@clashoftash3691]

the post-covid layout is definitely better than the pre-covid layout!!!

[@djmeredith6520]

Nice! As opposed to the boring classroom setting, it's great to see Linkedin puts in efforts to make the office comfortable.

[@colab_stdio]

Wow, this is an interesting EP. Companies trying to adjust to the reality that some remote work will continue in the foreseeable future. I hope WSJ makes this one a series if they're allowed to do other episodes like this with other companies as well. It will be interesting to see the post pandemic offices looks like.

[@sjwestmo]

Yes! Executives who have struggled with this change would benefit from some inspiration

[@luckamperman3218]

Great to finally see these type of offices popping up in the US as well. This type of offices has been around for 10-20 years in regions like Europe and Australia

[@dillonkayser4215]

It’ll be interesting to see which company balances this lenient sort of workplace environment the best. This kind of atmosphere can be to it’s detriment or to it’s benefit. I guess we’ll see how it plays out.

[@akeemblake4390]

This is amazing. I love it 👏👏👏👏

[@DavidsonHangOfficial]

Oh man now I miss working at LinkedIn good stuff way to be at the forefront of hybrid work.

[@notquitehim]

I have my reservations about working at big coroporations, but credit where credit it's due, they seem to have created a much more relaxed environment with this office layout, it reminds me a bit of co-working spaces which have grown to become my favorite places to work at

[@sjwestmo]

Well done LI! Love this

[@chaywednesday5131]

Conference room to living room that is amazing

[@zhengwhyehui4351]

Beautiful place and idea

[@kevini4295]

That's cute and all. I work for a large insurer who has been great in terms of hybrid. I agree with prior sentiments. If I am in the office, I stay for the day pretty much. Working off my laptop is hard on the eyes. The laptop is good for meeting with coworkers, but if I am "focused" I want a full size keyboard, mouse and my two monitors.

[@annieothername]

Finally, actual respect to Open concept. Ive dreaded hearing a workplace was open concept only for that to be mean executives have window seats and everyone else are in plexiglass cubicles I would just worry about people getting territorial of their favorite spots like I did in Uni lol

[@shikharsaraswat410]

Absolutely mind blowing

[@bgopinath509]

Excellent design... We at Novartis Hyderabad have adopted this design in 2018...call it as #AWB activity based work

[@venom5809]

As someone who is into furniture it's insane how much money they have spent on furniture, those Herman Miller Cosm chairs alone are like $1,300 a piece and those Knoll Womb chairs are like $5,000 each.

[@TheKaurK]

Is it insane though? Or are you just severely underestimating the amount of money linked in has?

[@PaulHo]

I love this host! 🥺

[@Apple-xt4vp]

Thanks for sharing your video 😊

[@BlackSwan-sq2iw]

Ok... that's it. I'm gonna quit my job and find a new one in an office like this ! Geez ! We still have to battle with senior management who thinks hybrid work is just a fad that will soon pass.

[@TheKaurK]

Is your company also full of uptight micro managers that only kill productivity in their employees?

[@ch0mper]

lots of great ideas!

[@UzumakiX5series]

This is great. Nobody wants to come to work to see rows and rows of workstations that all look the same, people want choices.

[@jonhall4714]

Yoooo this is literally the best space. I can work here alll day personal and LinkedIn project

[@Moelgaard85]

Sounds amazing!!!!!

[@strawberryjosh]

😀 Thank you for the video. Clean cut 🍉🍓

[@_Ekaros]

I have two revolutionary ideas. One is these high walls with some type of sound dampening fabric... And the other one is even stranger. A room with a door, a window and desk with 2 monitors... I wonder if either of these would ever catch on...

[@shuki1]

The people in office design are still trying to convince the world how open-plan seating and this new 'hybrid' seating is the most effective and encourages better work. My company has been going through a transition over the past few years from shared and assigned offices to open-space, and despite what most people are saying this whole time of this transition, we are being told how that is old-fashioned and the transition will continue until everyone is in open-plan including upper management too.

[@PaulOxborrow]

@@shuki1 I've worked for several companies all of whom have completely open-plan seating from top to bottom of the command chain. Its not necessarily the best solution and there are many stats to support this.

[@emlih1898]

they will never go back to that model. i wish they could at least go back to the high walled cubicles where you were inside of a makeshift “office” of sorts instead of these desks stacked side by side with low partitions in between. i despised working in an open office environment and love the privacy that remote work offers me.

[@railzip]

I’m loving my full remote role

[@GermanGonzalez]

So great!

[@KatharineOsborne]

I hate, HATE open plan spaces. At least this office spreads out the workstations, but there appears to still be no accommodation for those of us who are neurodivergent who would benefit from have a room with a door to block out visual and audio disturbances (and can separately control temperature and lighting). When I worked in an office I often had to flee to a stairwell to block out noise and coworker shenanigans and actually get some work done. No office will be better than remote working.

[@JessieCori]

That's exactly it.

[@EricaGamet]

Many of these offices have booth desks for just this purpose... not sure if LI does, but they're a possibility. Also looked like there were some smallish offices with doors.

[@ADHD55]

Thanks , but I'm still not coming back to the office, nice try with the arcade though

[@MrSupernova111]

Exactly! haha

[@maximondu2582]

Amazing !

[@matthewjzack.9447]

6:25 i love her deliberate word choice. instead of agreeing that the plan to change around the concept of the work space was to encourage, it's meant to *welcome* employees; it fully acknowledges that remote work is the future of productivity, and those who want to come in the office has a place to work.

[@travellingyeti6333]

i noticed this too

[@halos4179]

Don't be lured into this. No amount of "friendly" workspace will fix the employer vs employee relationship. At the end of the day, when things aren't going their way, you will be let go.

[@antuyanesimmonds4207]

The more I see of linked in the more I realize that these companies that speak on the poverty of the common people while they exist in pure luxury

[@Xhadp]

1) Love the comment saying that people may not work for 8 hours a day. People constantly have meetings or other environments 2) Love that there are some traditional offices, but please give a second monitor to some of those spots. 3) I love how tech is encouraged and stuff has been designed not around tech but around the feeling of not using tech. Like using a whiteboard and not a smart board. Not forcing employees to sit in tech savvy chairs and desks.

[@Omikoshi78]

If you don’t need to do any serious work (that requires focus) or take conference calls then this layout works well.

[@5thGenNativeTexan]

Exactly.

[@PhilMinecraft]

👍👍

[@spearofconquest]

plenty of serious work gets done in offices like this lol. Its silicon valley my guy.

[@Omikoshi78]

@@spearofconquest you can also run a marathon under water. It doesn’t mean it’s the optimal way to work. Source, higher level engineer at FANNG.

[@spearofconquest]

@@Omikoshi78 not everyone's an autistic engineer. Some of us like social interaction.

[@bkgurrll2947]

This is very close to the WeWork model. I like the various setting environments

[@matcharon]

Reminds me of student engagement and study spaces many college campuses are starting to build! Some spaces are designed for quiet work while others are made for collaboration. They try to incorporate various types of designs and furniture so that students can find spaces that address their needs.

[@gnardawgyt]

Adult daycare

[@TrvisXXIII]

Yes!! Haha 😂

[@carsend7412]

This looks pretty cool, made me open the linkedin jobs page lol.

[@andreeaselgaardjensen5086]

Adam Falk is doing a great job!

[@puzzled9012]

I like it! Smart

[@wangstick]

Looks fun… probably tough if you need two monitors

[@TobiasStarling]

I look at this office and just think, about 90% of their staff must not be technical. Because most tech nerd want their own space, with their own speced up computer and displays exactly how they like it. Generally they’ll need a lot of sockets and I see literally none of this in these spaces.

[@saraeissa4954]

I could do front end on a laptop curled on a sofa dude haha we’re not all secluded introverts

[@wizirbyman]

they're not forced to go to the office as well - so they could just have their full setup wfh

[@shuki1]

@@BrilliantHandle not really. Still cheaper to hand out Macbooks to developers than some terminal laptop to connect to a shared cluster which would need the same computing power and CPU anyway, and cost much more too.

[@joejohn.]

@@BrilliantHandle It's not so much about compile time for me (well, I don't compile anything anymore). It's more-so the difference in memory that I notice between my personal pc and company-provided laptop.

[@PaulOxborrow]

@@saraeissa4954 This!

[@BOGAO_Office_Furniture]

Wonderful

[@arbaretailsystems4722]

It wouldn't surprise me if almost every company incorporated this in the next 10 years

[@zero59267]

In 10-15 years, this might would be the new standard accross the world. I've seen companies makes transformation right before my eyes, always fascinating to see.

[@akeemblake4390]

Would love to see the results of this experiment

[@chrisissleepin8251]

Nobody wants to be stuck in a cubicle from 9-5 anymore so I am glad they are making this change. Working environments will get a lot better.

[@pktvicky]

வாழ்த்துக்கள்🥰🥰😇

[@druidsongevergreens]

Hopefully they’ll provide lockers for the employees in these settings. That’s really important for mobile work.

[@Bilbo383]

It just seems so unsustainable. You're having these huge buildings consuming massive amounts of energy but you're only utilizing 25% of the desks at a time. The future is remote imo

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

IT security risk is a main issue for a lot of companies. Not saying I like it, but it's a barrier that will be hard to break. It's always easier to find a single point of vulnerability than it is to account and control for every risk

[@shuki1]

Future is actually for more people to come back to the office. Nothing beats in person social interactions. Companies know that remote working reduces loyalty between colleagues and increases attrition so in the long run, it was just a period of disruption. Nonetheless, companies will definitely need to accept the flexibility of people being able to come in late, hop out in the middle, or leave early and not the pressure to literally clock in and clock out.

[@Spooffie]

@@shuki1 the future sounds like what we've been doing

[@goodlife4820]

As a skilled worker who work in sweat for 12 hrs a day, how i wish i work in that kind of environment.

[@goodlife4820]

@Oblivious Penguin I hope 1 day bro. But for now as a bread winner of the family and with hyper inflation in a 3rd world country to start a new career is a privilege for the few.

[@MrSupernova111]

You can do it. I spent 20 years working retail (started as a teenager). I went back to school and quit my retail management job. Did it hurt financially for a while? Yes. But years later I now work from home everyday. I haven't been to the office since pre-pandemic and my career options are much better. I started going to school part time after work. I took online courses. If you have an internet connection you can do it.

[@benjamindover4337]

All major corporate offices will only hire gays and women.

[@vincentnnyc]

@@MrSupernova111 what is your job now?

[@MrSupernova111]

@@vincentnnyc . I work in finance.

[@gamebang8657]

优秀的设计！

[@jeremiasrobinson]

A concept universities should also consider.

[@AskMiko]

Most offices these days have similar setup and tech. Highlighting now to use spaces efficiently is valuable!

[@janeswayne6524]

So cool

[@Rajkumaryadav-ir3vb]

Great office.

[@saralacy5133]

Very COOOL!

[@rungfathavornvisitporn5705]

5:49 What brand of the wall mounted camera?

[@luv2stack]

Makes sense

[@eastofthemississippi2501]

Probably 10 minutes of actual work accomplished in that place between all the chai lattes

[@steveoc64]

One giant space to hold meeting after meeting after meeting. Good Coding is a solitary activity that requires deep concentration and zero interference. I can’t imagine they get any decent coding done there. Lots of agile kindergarten rituals and “product meetings” maybe, but no real coding.

[@brickmack]

For the vast majority of office-type jobs, at this point the main role of the physical office is comfort and socialization. Nothing about my actual work performance requires me to go into the office, but I would do so only if it was more comfortable than working from home (not just furniture, but the whole environment) or if I wanted to hang out with my coworkers. From a business standpoint, an office is therefore only a worthwhile investment if that comfortability translates to increased productivity, and enough employees actually use it to make a difference (and compulsory usage will have the opposite effect). This is what all offices should look like in the future, and if thats not viable, the company in question probably shouldn't bother having an office (mine doesn't). Spaces fit for every way that a person might choose to sit, every range of interaction they might want with the people and things around them, individual/group workspaces, etc. Unfortunately, achieving this is expensive and requires a certain scale of operations

[@agatastaniak7459]

physical office is for surveillance. In our times it can be done remotely and exclude human managers with their micro-management obsession that actually adds another self-tracking job to an actual job that someone is doing this is why if we think of reall focused work and higher effciency remote work if possible makes much more sense. But some people got sed being in power of surveilling others and they will not let go of this power position easily. As simple as that. As for for socializing, lots of data shows that if it is forced upon people it makes more harm than good. Yes, hybrid mode for socializing would be better option but as for efficiency actual one on one remote contact sessions focused on what someone needs manager's help with also prove to increase efficiency better than just idle time with other co-workers since it simply adds to everyone's distraction and each 15 minutes of this distraction cost people half an hourto return to actual focused mode what modern day brain science proves this is why efficiency-wise too much of socializing in a workplaces lowers, not increases productivity. Only time when incrase in productivity might happen due to socialzing is conceptual work for purpose of innovative brainstorming but even this in most companies is done badly, in a manner that does fail to benefit from what science already tells us about how it works best.

[@wizirbyman]

i love all of these except the meeting room where the only chairs were sofas bc i would hate to have to constantly reach over and hurt my back hunched over on a laptop at that angle

[@inzhagicornsalad9541]

You’d probably book that kind of meeting for a more informal type of discussion though - you might not have a laptop with you for instance just a notepad. All depends on what kind of discussions you want to generate

[@KrisPatel99]

Great video that demonstrates why we're in a Tech Bubble.