Au Revoir, Office

USA Today reports that "an estimated 30 million Americans, or roughly one-fifth of the nation's workforce, are part of the so-called Kinko's generation, employees who spend significant hours each month working outside of a traditional office." Instead, they plop down for a day's work in a coffee shop like The Grove, in San Francisco's Marina district; USA Today says, "Call The Grove the office of the future, except the future is here." Ron Shaich, the CEO of Panera Bread (which courts office-less workers with living room-style seating and free Wi-Fi), says, "We now live in a society where cubicles are considered the corporate equivalent of a tenement. What's most efficient for business and employee alike is a measure of flexibility."