办公桌轮用制源自于某个员工暂时使用一个工作位或工作面这样一个概念。Hot desking这个说法据说是来源于海军的一个惯常做法，叫hot racking，也就是不同班次的水手共用几个休息铺位。20世纪80年代末到90年代初，几个人分时段共用一个办公桌的办公桌轮用制日渐兴起。这种做法的主要的目的是通过节省空间来节约开支——某些情况下节约的开支可达30％。
Hot desking originates from the definition of being the temporary physical occupant of a work station or surface by a particular employee. The term hot desking is thought to be derived from the naval practice, called hot racking, where sailors on different shifts share bunks. Originating as a trend in the late 1980s-early 1990s, hot desking involves one desk shared between several people who use the desk at different times. A primary motivation for hot desking is cost reduction through space savings - up to 30% in some cases.
办公桌轮用制通常在所有员工不会同时在办公室或者不会在办公室待很久的办公场所实行，如果不这样做的话，那么很多办公室就有可能是空置的，同时耗费宝贵的空间和资源。
Hot desking is regularly used in places where not all the employees are in the office at the same time, or not in the office for very long at all, which means actual personal offices would be often vacant, consuming valuable space and resources.