High-status employees, for example, sat near the head of the table during meetings.

Very few, if any, employers ask employees to simply sit and watch a bank of monitors all day long.

At lunch, employees sit around an open counter in the center of the building.

During a reporter's recent visit to the offices here, young employees sat at work over computer keyboards behind a series of closed doors.

Why can't the employer and employees sit down and bargain a contract?

At independent funeral homes, employees and hearses usually sit idle, waiting for the call.

The 300 employees at the presidential office building where she talked to reporters sat idle.

"Having an employee sit on the remuneration committee would help break open the closed shop, put some grit in the wheels," she said.

As part of the collaborative culture, all employees, including senior management, sit in open "neighborhoods" of five or six workers.

Inside, employees sit in front of computer screens, earning an hourly rate to ask the same questions over and over again.