When did cubicles become the norm for office workers?
Medieval libraries were the first to adopt the cubicle concept, providing monastic scholars with private space for contemplation. It took corporations another few centuries to warm up to the idea. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, noted in an interview that office cubicles first became commonplace in the late 1960s. He theorized that modular environments were originally intended to increase communication and allow workers to select components best suited to their professional needs. When big businesses realized how much money cubicles saved, there was no turning back. The Smithsonian points to an even earlier shift in office environment. Starting in the mid-1800s, huge corporations with thousands of specialized employees began to emerge.
