The open office design is all the rage these days. But The New Yorker’s Maria Konnikova shares several studies that suggest the layout could be bad for productivity. It also makes it a lot harder to find a wall to bang your head against.

+ Prospective Amazon employees must get through discussions with several layers of so-call “bar raisers” to make sure they are the right person for the job. Apparently the system is not impermeable. Amazon currently employs more than 100,000 people.

+ Zappos is doing away with bosses, managers, and the corporate hierarchy.