to think you should be able to tell the boss?

[ginghamstarfish]

My DH work in IT, open plan office, and two women at the next desks to his, talk constantly. He has deadlines, and lots of problems to resolve in his work, and says he often can't hear himself think due to the incessant yakking, shouting, laughing, loud eating, etc etc. They also slag off everyone else in the office when they are not around. He often goes off to find an empty desk elsewhere but not ideal as he doesn't have his multiple screens etc. He will NOT talk to his boss as I keep suggesting, as he says it will make things worse as it will be obvious to the women who spoke to the boss, and then they will of course slag him off to everyone else. If I were the boss I would really want to know! He comes home fed up every day, yet he won't say anything. I don't know what else to say to him - anyone had similar?

He needs to talk to his boss or stop whining to you about it. If it's that much of an issue, he needs to take action. Options I've tried (all unsuccessful mind you)

• request manager remind people to keep it down, use their library voices not their paddock voices

• ask for a dedicated quiet area so people who need to focus on complicated work can get away from the incessant noise
• sounds like your hubby has a choice of a quieter desk - ask to move there permanently so he can concentrate on what he's working on
• ask work to provide noise cancelling headphones if they won't do anything to stop the interminable talking about non work related things eg 40mins on the cricket...

When all that fails, get your spotify playlist up on your phone or computer and put in some ear phones. Personally I find the mobile is best as you don't have to remove your earphones when you go to the kitchen or printer.