Mark Zuckerberg has been opening up about his personal life of late. (You’d think that would come with being the owner of a website that’s built on people sharing travel updates and baby pictures). He’s been using Facebook to share his vacation pics, his views about world events, and to even let the world know that his wife was expecting. But now he’s just gone ahead and done something he hadn’t done yet – he’s offered the world a tantalizing glimpse into Facebook’s office.
While trying out a video for Facebook live, Zuckerberg showed off Facebook’s new digs to the Facebook community. Here’s what the little snippet of video told us about office life at the world’s biggest social network.
1. Facebook has an open office plan
Facebook has no cubicles. Their newest office is a large hall with desks spreading away “as far as the eye can see.” The open floor plan is meant to facilitates communication and sharing between employees.
2. The Facebook office has dull, subdued colours
None of the many-coloured glitz here that you see at Google offices. Facebook’s HQ’s interiors are subdued (and uniform) – the carpet is a sombre gray, the pillars are a slightly different shade of gray, and the roofs are – gray. It looks like Zuck’s fondness for gray extends beyond his T-shirts.
3. The office retains a garage-like feel
While Facebook is hardly a startup anymore, the designers have striven to give its office a rugged, unfinished look. Large metallic pipes criss-cross the roof, and cable-holders run amuck across walls. Facebook realizes that this is how you get nerdy engineers to be at their most productive.
4. The meeting rooms have glass walls
Zuckerberg says that he wants his employees to work in a transparent, open environment. He’s done this by making sure that all meeting rooms are visually accessible from outside. This means that all employees’ activities are out in the open, and there’s little room for clandestine office intrigues.
5. And Zuck’s desk is..fairly messy
Zuckerberg hardly seems to be a stickler for order. His desk has stacks of books, a wood carving of Facebook’s new logo, and a model of a satellite that the company intends to launch. We can only wonder where he keeps his laptop.
