to think that people should not wear headphones and listen to music in the office

[Jewels234]

I work in a very large open plan office, where we sit in individual teams.

More and more people are putting in headphones and listening to music all day...and it's driving me insane! You can hear the 'tsk tsk tsk' noise of their music (I really don't want to be the grumpy one who asks them to turn it down). And if you need to ask a question you look like a complete idiot repeating their name until they realise they are being spoken to.

I know I can't change it...and probably am BU, but it feels unprofessional and unsociable. Also, hearing faint music constantly is so irritating. I can't beat them...so do I join them?

YANBU. Nothing wrong with headphones in the office but you shouldn't be able to overhear the noise.

You must work in a very quiet office! People wear headphones in our office to drown out some of the noise of other people talking, laughing and moaning when they need to get some stuff done. There's no way I'd be able to hear the 'tsk, tsk, tsk' noise over that.

I was so pissed off when headphones were banned in my office. I had a shit job and listening to radio 6 made my life so much more pleasant. But a small minority of people selfishly caused the ban by having music too loud and not being aware when they were being spoken to.
So Yabu as long as people use them respectfully.

Loads of people wear headphones in my office.

I just wave at them until they notice me. No big issue?

There would be arguments if they were asked to stop!

As said above, the office must be very quiet...

I work in an open plan office & regularly use earphones though I do so considerately.

YABU

YANBU. In a working environment if you can hear somebody else's music it's too loud.

THey need to get better earphones if you can hear the noise. They're iphone earphones aren't they? they've got better, but they are still shite.

I wear earphones in the office. Mostly I am listening to music - it helps me concentrate, drowns out others' noise esp those who TALK REALLY LOUDLY WHENEVER ON THE PHONE. But sometimes the music isn't switched on, and I am just pretending to listen to music so that I won;t be interrupted every minute.

Besides, we all have email/instant messager, so if you can't catch their eye with a wave and can't be bothered to tap them on the arm, you can just message them. Unless they've turned off messager.

Are you an incessant talker, noisy desk eater, sniffer, tongue clicker or tea slurper?

If everyone else is wearing headphones except you, then maybe the reason is you!

How can they be working whilst listening to music on headphones?

YANBU.

Haha yep maybe the earphone thing is feedback that I should take on board!

Ok, I am being unreasonable. I might join them on Monday.

Wear earplugs!

YANBU I don't understand how people can concentrate doing this, and it is incredibly antisocial.

Iouwn me neither. It's an office to do office work. I could understand it if you were say stacking goods in a warehouse or something like gardening.

The only time anyone in my office gets any peace is if they put on headphones. We're a pretty social bunch anyway, and the office is very open plan and designed for people to have meetings pretty much all over.

There should be a reasonable usage policy- no leakage and only in times when the wearer really needs to concentrate. It's incredibly selfish of the music listeners if you have to dance around to get their attention and take their share of phone answering.

I concentrate so much better in our open plan office with headphones in.

I can still hear my phone and check that my colleagues can't hear my music (although most of them have headphones in too).

I don't wear them every minute of the working day but probably for the bulk of it.

I don't understand the "How can they be working if they are listening to music?" comments. So staff in open plan offices are incredibly intrusive and loud. The only way lots of people can actually get any work done is to block out these people. I keep meaning to get headphones for just these reason

Being able to listen to music of my own choice is a massive plus point to my job.
I love it, and so do most of us.
If you can hear their music there's absolutely nothing wrong with politely telling them that. I certainly wouldn't have a problem with it, I'd much rather know if I was annoying someone.

It's not for everyone I'm sure but it's nice to have the option.

I like using them for particularly difficult work. They also suppress the surrounding conversations which are more distracting than music.

You are being entirely reasonable. It's very rude to wear headphones in the office!

In my previous office we hired a student temp sometimes to do data entry or scanning and he worked alone in a kind of cupboard so we let him (in fact, told him!) to listen to music although it was via speakers as our fire officer didn't like the idea of headphones.

But if you work in a space with others headphones are not acceptable.

I work in an open plan office. No one wears headphones to listen to music. A few members of staff wear headphones to take phone calls, most don't.

If anyone finds the background noise so distracting they can't concentrate there are headphones which will block that. Headphones piping in your choice of music is you listening to your music on the time I'm paying you to do a job.

I've been an employee in this office and am now one of the employers. In both capacities this is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a very long time.

God yes, how dare anyone listen to music whilst also doing their job.
Best get all shops, bars, restaurants, garages, soft plays etc to get that rubbish turned off ASAP.

I find it very bizarre that anyone who has worked in an office of any kind has never heard of any others that have the radio on or let people wear headphones.

I have worked in 7 different offices since I was 22. I'm now 55 and apart from the mail room staff in one office I have never come across any office where music is played either to everyone or by individual headphones.

The situation in a shop etc is completely different. So yes Floyd if you were my employee you would be told to switch it off.