I'm glad I've never wanted to work there.

and probably Martha's glad, too.

Eeep... looks so... barren.

I think I would get one of those jumbo pencils you get at tourist locations just to revolt.

Although this seems overboard, I can see some rules being in place. The pen colors and the clearing desks, I'm for. People in my office can be disgusting or insane with the shit the collect. We currently have a gnat infestation because someone doesn't want to thow away their gross bananas. There's also a woman who's cutesy puppy and kitty decoractions have over taken her double cublicle (about the size of 6 of the ones pictured above) and are spilling out onto the walls and dividers of everyone elses.

This though is too barren

the office I worked in at my last job went through this a couple months before I left. our boss remodeled our office, which was great. we got new, softer lighting, additional storage space, freshly painted walls. but after ignoring our space for a long time, (she would stack boxes of files in our office with no plans of moving them), she suddenly became super strict. all of our personal items had to go (there weren't many and we had good taste). she made my coworker take home her small radio (which was turned so low I couldn't hear it across the room and we weren't allowed to play music on our computers), her plant (it's glass vase was 'tacky'), and her pictures of her son! none of these things were visible to the public and coworkers rarely entered our office. she rearranged all of the electronic equipment on my desk to be more aesthetically pleasing (but less functional for me). we weren't allowed to put anything on top of the low cabinets, even while working (most inconvenient as I often needed to spread color samples and the like out while working). we understood that with the remodel she wanted things to look nice, but when you spend 8 hours a day in a place, I think you should have a say in it. it really felt dehumanizing and put a damper on what would have otherwise been a vast improvement. and this was a small office where everyone knew each other, not some vast corporation where severe rules are needed to prevent complete chaos.

remember, bosses, your employees are people, not machines!

What? Working for a megalomaniac psycho hosebeast entails submitting to her crazy rules?

You don't say.

man, oh man, being in the big house changed that crazy beyodchtch!!! j/k!

"Perhaps they are figuring the last part makes it that much easier to lay people off quickly, because they won't have to waste everyone's time by clearing out their desks."

Yes because people aren't buying magazines when they can get all that info for free on design blogs that post magazine pages and articles despite copyright infringement.

Please. Let's do away with individuality and creativity. You tend to find those things in self-expression.

Is there a twelve step program for control freaks?