can be attributed to several factors. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain in about 1760, brought about technological innovations in agriculture and industry which completely restructured the workforce. As farming became increasingly mechanized, many agricultural jobs were eliminated. As a result, people fled the countryside looking for jobs in the cities. All of these people needed workspaces. 2 Early office buildings were low-rise structures However,the introduction of steel-frame construction , which could support the weight of the entire building, enabled buildings to be much taller, establishing the precedent for today's skyscrapers In the 1850s, elevator pioneer Elisha Otis developed là safe means for workers to be quickly whisked up to their offices, instead of having to climb stairs 3 In 1854 Sir Charles Trevelyan, a British civil servant, described the ideal scenario as follows:"For the intellectual work, separate rooms are necessary so that a person who works with his head may not be interrupted; but for the more mechanical work.the working in concert of a number of clerks in the same room under proper superintendence, is the proper mode of meeting it." This was the prototype for the traditional workspace of private offices for managers and open areas for derical workers. 4 What most people think of as the modern office appeared in the early twentieth century, when architect Frank Lloyd Wright recommended that businesses remove walls and place employees in one area-an open- plan space which would encourage interaction and collaboration This concept was refined in the 1950s when German architects introduced the Burolandschair or office landscape, which rejected rows of desks in favour of organically grouped desks separated by strategically placed potted plants and filling cabinets. Though well-intentioned, there was opposition to the style because of a lack of privacy. In the 1980s.architects attempted to address this issue with the cubicle - a low-partitioned workspace which was cheap and easily assembled. Companies could cram hundreds of them into an entire floor creating the much-maligned cubicle farm. Like earlier styles, cubicles were intended to foster collaboration, but instead they had the opposite effect A Harvard Business School study found that employees spent 73 percent less time in face-to-face interaction. Instead of encouraging interaction, they provoked crushing conformity and feelings of isolation-cubicle workers often wore headphones to block out ambient noise. According to lead researcher Professor Ethan Bernstein, there is a 'natural human desire for privacy, and when we do not have privacy, we find ways of achieving it.'5 Slowly but surely, things are changing Because of mobile technology workers are no longer constrained to an office, prompting companies to offer flexible options which allow employees greater personal freedom. 5 What effect does mobile technology have on working styles? A. It enables more personal freedom in what people choose to do at work B. It changes the way people decorate office buildings because of increased space. C. It enables more personal freedom in terms of where people work D. It increases feelings of isolation in busy workplace environments.