Similar thought to an “Office” episode called “The Convict”. The staff decides that prison would be better than Dunder-Mifflin, so Michael locks them in the conference room. Among other hijinks. Good point, and the folks at D-M don’t even have cubicles!

Here is the general factoid: Prison cells have more space than cubicles.

Now how about some detail on that, plus a rant…

According to Steelcase (cubicle manufacturer), the average size of a cubicle in 2006 was 190 Sq Ft (implying dimensions of nearly 14′ x 14′). This is down from 250 sq/ft in 2000. Not only that, but office planners think they can reduce it by another 21% without affecting productivity.

Now I don’t know where they get their stats from, because I have never seen a cublicle that big, this includes cubes built in the Mid `80s to today. My “supervisor” cubicle here is about 8’2″ x 8’2″ giving me about 66.7 sq/ft. Much of that space is not usable since it is taken up by filing cabinets, the desktop, trash cans, etc. (By the way, I have had much smaller cubes in the past, but I’ll use this larger one for comparison). I figure, I have a 4×6 area I can move around in. Since I often work 11 hour days, then go home and go to bed from exhaustion, I am doomed to cubicle hell.

For fun comparison, the average prison cell size is at least 70 sq/ft. Plus, unless prisoners are at Max security facilites, they often get to move about quite a bit rather than site in one spot all day.

So, the way I figure it, if it weren’t for the rapes and beatings, prison just might involve more freedom than working in an office.

Well if you don’t die from working, you might be plague with a variety of work related illnesses. Depression, sucidal thoughts, heart problems… but if you die, your grieving family can file for compensation from the company, and these death-by-work lawsuits are rising.