[crazygringo]

This is extremely common and is a feature.

Without it, suddenly you can hear every conversation happening all the way on the other side of your open plan office. It becomes extremely distracting.

[speed_spread]

It's a cost saving measure warranted by open spaces. We used to have walls and closed offices instead.

[crazygringo]

Open plan vs private office is a totally different conversation.

Adding the white noise isn't cost-saving, it costs money to install.