The End Of Cubicle Farms?

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The days of the office cubicle may be numbered.

The tough economy - which triggered layoffs - also is prompting many companies to reconsider the look of their offices. For many, it's meant smaller-size cubicles or no cubicles at all.

James Moustafellos is assistant director of the Center for Design and Innovation at Temple University's Fox School of Business.

"Spaces that are shifting to team-based environments or open, flexible environments and so that kind of spatial delineation of the cube is, in a lot of cases, being outmoded."

Moustafellos says the evolution of technology also is having an impact on the workplace, especially mobile devices such as tablets and laptops.

"The younger generation is moving into the work force, definitely work in those ways because that's the way they interact socially, it's the way they're working in schools today. So, it's definitely going to have a carry over into the office."

Reported by Mark Abrams, KYW Newsradio