The disappearing space crunch [Reflections]

Several years ago, the author wrote how there was a perpetual space crunch in the management of space in engineering laboratories and offices because engineers tended to accumulate and hide excess square footage. Now, however, such labs and offices contain empty rooms and disused equipment everywhere. The author examines why this is so and presents one theory which suggests that the present surplus of space is really the visible manifestation of another trend: engineers are disappearing.