Noise levels have increased as walls have come down, prompting many to complain of 'speech privacy.'

Allie Walker Allie Walker on May 23, 2012. @NYC_Allie

In a decade long study of 65,000 respondents, researchers from the University of California found that more than 50% of office workers are dissatisfied with their level of ‘speech privacy,’ as open office plans have taken down walls and increased noise levels. NY Times