CEO demands employee leave their office door open at all times after thinking they were out of office because it was closed: ‘What is even the point of an office?’

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Feb 17, 2026 6:00 PM EST

Having your own office, with a non-seethrough door that actually closes, is a privilege most employees never get to experience during their career. 

Most offices have completely switched to an open space layout, where you are forced to sit across from your coworkers, allowing everyone who passes by see what you are working on, and hear every single conversation being held, with no sense of privacy whatsoever.

There are only a select few who get to have their own office, and even then, most personal offices these days have glass windows instead of walls, so everyone can still see what you do while you're inside. The only actual closed space you might find in the office is the bathroom.

So when the employee in the story below discovered they would be getting their own office, with a non-seethrough door and everything, they were quite excited. They would finally get a chance to work in quiet and be able to focus without the constant interruption of an open space. 

Or so they thought…

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  • businessman holding papers and knocking on an office door.
    via stockfour

    businessman holding papers and knocking on an office door.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Within their first month on the job, it already became clear that the office was just for show, and this employee would never get to enjoy it the way it was designed to work, all because of the CEO.

    At the end of one workday, the CEO barged into the employee's office and began reprimanding the employee for having their office door closed. Apparently, according to the CEO, if your office door is closed, it must mean you are out of the office. This led the CEO to believe that the new employee was not around, and he even assigned their tasks to different people because he assumed they were not there.

    If only there were a way he could have learned whether or not the employee was actually sitting in their office… 

     

  • CEO Thought I was Out of Office Just for Having my Door Shut

    Summary: I got a talkin' to simply for having my door closed, which somehow equates to my being "unavailable".
    via brahman1004
  • Does a no-knock raid rock near the end of the day and says angrily, "This isn't going to work for me." meaning having my door shut.
    via brahman1004
  • These are the only words he's spoken to me all say since he was in many meetings.
    via brahman1004
  • I need to make my self "obviously available". What the heck is even the point of an office or even a door at that point?
    via brahman1004
  • That was one of the things I was excited for leaving the previous company that was open floor plan.
    via brahman1004
  • Said he thought I wasn't in the office and was assigning others my work. One, I'm not even a month into this job, so I'm still just trying to figure out how the company operates.
    via brahman1004
  • Man in a suit opening an office door.
    via mediaphotos

    Man in a suit opening an office door.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Two, I would communicate to the office if I were absent. Three, it takes five seconds and minimal effort to knock or even open my door to quickly see if I'm present.
    via brahman1004
  • It's a small office and I prefer limiting noisy distractions with the door closed. Ay caramba, I am already planning not to stay with this company longer than necessary.
    via brahman1004

  • We hope the employee told all of these things to the CEO, because he seriously needs a reality check. If you can't stand for your employees to work without you monitoring their every move, what was the point of even assigning them an office in the first place?

    Might as well have everyone work at desks in one line and stand behind them, monitoring them like a hawk…

  • Stolen Wishes You get an office? With a door?!
    via StolenWishes
  • Dismal_Bill_4021 I'm wired to be easily distracted by noise, my office days are a struggle. I leave my door closed with a sticky note "Come In :)" so people know they're welcome if they actually need something, otherwise it trains people to shoot me a message or email instead.
    via Dismal_Bill_4021
  • Phi_fan This is the classic, "find random things to be angry at so that your wage-slaves are always on edge". They think it makes you work harder. They are idiots.
    via Phi_fan
  • rexel99 Don't let him near your stapler.
    via rexel99
  • dwightsarmy I can see why they had to fill this spot less than a month ago...
    via dwightsarmy
  • Zebal1228 Buy an office door availability sign from Walmart for $12, problem solved.
    via Zebal1228
  • rabidsalvation Did you say any of that to them? Because I hope you did. One thing I've learned over the years is to not hold in work stress. If I have a problem, I say something. Better to say something and get fired on the spot than to hold it in and be frustrated until you explode. You have to speak up for yourself, because very few others will.
    via rabidsalvation
  • skiing_nerd I used to have a metal office door that had a window with a blind in it and loved it for solving this problem. I could have the door shut to my heart's (and ears') content but would keep the blind up while I was in the office so people could see I was there. Typically they would gesture. before opening the door and I could hand signal no or one minute if I was on a call, or wave then in if I had just wanted the quiet time but could be interrupted. I hate having a solid wood door now
    via skiing_nerd
  • thejoester Why is a CEO assigning work? That's a major red flag for me.
    via thejoester
  • Longjumping-Air1489 How dare you do something that makes the CEOs assumption wronall
    via Longjumping-Air1489

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door boss workplace-stories employee manager job tales-from-the-workplace ceo Office office door workplace company
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