> if history is any guide then the result will be less collaboration and a decrease in productivity

Which history? Rome and Sparta had profligate (for the time) public benefits and didn’t do much worse for the wear.

I mean the recent history of companies moving to an open office plan. It appears to me that most companies that have done this have seen the opposite of the claimed goals.

Of course, the actual goal is cost reduction, and on that count, I think the effort is a success.

You may have missed the /s