I am not sure how to approach this. I have worked in a variety of conditions and I have some idea of which things are merely just not my favorite, but easy to deal with, vs. which things are outright dealbreakers.<p>For example, I remember the joy I felt when I first read the passage of Paul Graham&#x27;s essay &quot;Great Hackers&quot; in which he describes the notion of placing software developers in a noisy open area as similar to making painters work in a factory where the air is full of soot. For me personally, working in a noisy, non-private space is simply not possible. I&#x27;d like to compromise, but it&#x27;s borderline physical pathology with me. Wearing headphones doesn&#x27;t work. The most significant thing I need in order to provide the business with the productivity they hired me to give them is <i>privacy</i>.<p>But at the same time, I don&#x27;t like working from home. I love collaborating and having an &quot;open door policy&quot; to talk with and assist coworkers with anything I can. I just need a door that shuts so I can protect some of my time to use for the more thought-intensive and creativity-focused aspects of my work.<p>For me, there&#x27;s no way to compromise on this. I&#x27;ve worked in cubicle banks, open-plan shared desks, shared bullpens, etc. etc. Even though I still get high marks from my boss, it drives me mad and causes me to inescapably resent showing up at work every day. Almost to the point where I&#x27;m starting to wonder if I have misophonia.<p>Anyway, this singular issue (finding a private office) seems like it is the single hardest thing in the software industry. I speculate this is because businesses want to confer lowered status on the activities of engineers, but whatever it is, it makes the process of interviewing pretty maddening.<p>I&#x27;ve had several places get to the point of making me a job offer, and then tell me that it is impossible for them to negotiate a private office for me. They have offered to raise the pay, add more vacation, and many other things. But I have to turn them down, for my own health. But it really begs the question... <i>why</i> from a business point of view is it <i>so hard</i> to provide some employees (who plausibly need it) with privacy. Why is employment for our field so overwhelmingly dominated by open-plan spaces, that people are willing to offer more money to attract someone but not at all willing to compromise on the type of physical space you can inhabit while working?<p>Anyway, for me is suggests that it&#x27;s not so easy as &quot;just compromise.&quot; There&#x27;s a lot that I&#x27;d be happy to compromise on. I&#x27;ll work in a wide range of languages. I can work in Windows. I can work long hours. I&#x27;m willing to live pretty much anywhere. But what I can&#x27;t compromise is the need for private space ... which seems to be the <i>one</i> thing that essentially no one provides.