My office (one of the largest Silicon valley company) is open floor workplace. HORRIBLE. very noisy, my Boss sits opposite to my terminal. His boss sits next to him.
Coughing , chewing, phone calls, meetings, all you hear whole day.
No phones on desk anymore. Phones are only inside conference rooms and conference rooms are 3 sided glass.
Snacks are fruits only. Flex time, Black tie buses are free of cost.
Can you listen to white noise to block it out? I”ve been able to do that at various workplaces. I can still (usually) hear if I am directly addressed but it helps tune out all the chewing, coughing etc. One place I shared an office, the only way I could get my colleague to stop incessantly interupting me was to wear prominent headphones when earbuds would have been fine. I often didn’t listen to white noise there, I just needed more quiet than she did.
I have some electronic devices that help with white noise (and of course cell phone apps) and I sometimes listen to ambient-mixer.com sound tracks. The other thing I hate is so much non essential movement in my line of sight. People struggling with the printer, stapling, shuffling etc.... THAT I haven’t figured out how to avoid. I’m more productive in the stillness of a traditional office.