Friday, July 22, 2022

Reseat: What Will You Do With All That Office Furniture?

Why It’s Time to Demand More From Our Workplace Experience

CBRE Says Space Per Office Employee Reaches 22-Year Low

News

Reseat is helping everyone from furniture dealers, designers, facility managers and end users to sustainably manage furniture inventory.

Interest rate hikes, the Federal Reserve, and a bear market — oh my.

These have all become part of our economic reality as analysts continue to doomsday prep for a looming recession in the next 12 months.

And perhaps no other industry has felt the burden of this uncertainty more than the real estate industry, particularly the office sector.

As recession fears spread, the industry logged a slowdown in commercial, manufacturing and institutional activity last month, while architects’ billings grew at a slower pace.
The current space per office employee has fallen nearly 5 percent from pre-pandemic levels to 152 square feet, according to a recent insight from CBRE.
 
While the change seems sudden, CBRE notes that since 2009, square feet per employee has steadily declined. Before 2008, corporate office footprints were growing, but densification strategies took over after the financial crisis. CBRE says a similar dynamic was happening with office space in the mid-1990s when the economy was recovering from a recession amid an excess of space.

Continuous supply chain disruptions which started during the pandemic and have been intensified by the war in Ukraine—and an ongoing economic decoupling of the US and China—have generated a flood of manufacturing jobs reshoring to the US.

Reshoring is on track to create more manufacturing jobs in the US than foreign direct investment for the third year in a row in 2022. The wave of manufacturing jobs from reshoring is projected to crest at 400,000 jobs by the end of the year, a 35% increase of 2021’s total of 261K.

The Workplace

Low return-to-office figures persist as the summer wears on, with offices seeing roughly the same level of traffic in July, after workers returned from the Independence Day weekend, as they did in June.

Office occupancy in 10 major U.S. markets after the holiday weekend edged back up to 44.1%, according to the latest Kastle Back-to-Work Barometer.

The corporate workspace landscape is changing out of necessity so firms can survive in a new present and future of work.
More and more, workplace inclusivity is considered to be one of the most crucial priorities for a thriving and productive workplace. Inclusivity is beginning to become more of a priority for workers when choosing a company to work for, and companies may want to listen.
Professional gatherings are the new vacations for moms and dads who spent the pandemic catering to children: sightseeing, fancy meals, Tom Cruise movie. “It was blissful.”
 
In-person work conferences are returning, and many parents who spent much of the pandemic supervising children are happy for the break. Some confessed to sneaking out of sales presentations or using the hours between conference workshops for fancy meals, sightseeing or precious alone time.
The Future Forum, a consortium created by Slack, has released the findings of its most recent Global Pulse study, further supporting the need for more workplace flexibility.

The quarterly survey of over 10,000 knowledge workers showed that the number of respondents who want to be in the office full-time has dropped to a two-year low of 20%.

To stave off attrition, it is essential for leaders to understand what workers need from their workplace — and the missing puzzle piece in sustainable growth continues to be flexibility.

According to the findings, the number of respondents working under a hybrid model grew from 45% to 49%, while those working remotely full-time fell from 21% to 18%.

Simultaneously, 55% of respondents said they preferred to work less than three days a week in the office, while full-time in-office workers were found to be the least satisfied with their current arrangement.

As companies try to attract employees back to the office, a new survey of 4,000 people claims to reveal that what employees really want are yoga studios, office gyms and designated quiet spaces where they can work in peace. The survey findings suggest that employees are less interested in fun and games during the work day and more hungry for perks that enhance their work-life satisfaction.
Whether it’s a hybrid model or requiring employees to come in five days a week, experts say employers need to show the value of asking workers to commute into the office again after two years of working from home successfully.
A NEW study has revealed there’s no overall drop in productivity when staff work from home rather than the workplace. And it’s led to a challenge for Scottish business bosses: Let your team choose where they want to work to improve retention and overall happiness. 
 
“Hybrid working has gone from being a privilege a few years ago, to something staff are now expecting,” said local technology expert Alex Currens, of Acu IT Solutions.

Hybrid Working

To crack what the future of workspaces should be, more companies are experimenting with a design concept that first took off in Europe: activity-based working layouts.
Design literacy isn’t just for the graphic designers anymore. This CMO says all employees should have a basic understanding of the skills.
The transition from online working to hybrid working has created space for flex operators to make profits from value-for-money-conscious occupiers.

Figures from Savills showed that profit margins of flexible offices have recovered to pre-pandemic levels. In its latest Flexmark report, Savills' flexible office specialist Workthere said that 87% of UK operators are profitable, with 63% of providers reporting profit margins above 15%, which is 50% higher than the figure recorded in 2021.

White collar workers are more likely to hear silence than the phrase “TGIF!” in the office every Friday.

Leisurely lunches and company happy hours used to define the end of the week, but now it’s becoming the day where workers are opting to stay at home. Before the pandemic, it wasn’t all that uncommon for workers to feel the urge to leave the office early on Fridays, especially in places like New York City where employers formalized the practice in the summertime. But now, office occupancy levels on Fridays have plummeted as employees avoid going to the office altogether.

A small but growing number of companies are abandoning all hope that people will come to work on the last day of the workweek.

Dealers

A team of industry experts is filling a void in training and education programs to equip smaller furniture dealers for success in today’s challenging economic environment.

Design

Business wearables are a booming branch of tech with the potential to influence workspaces from factories to the trading floor.
As workers head back to the office, Britni Stone, Interior Designer/Senior Associate at NBBJ, looks at how workplaces can better accommodate our four-legged friends.
 
One the most significant social outcomes of the Covid-19 pandemic is a rise in dog ownership. Many benefit from having pets keep them company while working from home, but what happens when more employees start returning to the office?
A hybrid office provides an ideal balance of collaboration and focus work. While in the office, teams have the facility and choice of different spaces for collaboration, while at home they also get to concentrate on projects. Businesses need to consider all of the design considerations and create a hybrid environment that effectively meets employees’ needs, while allowing them to get the most value out of their time spent there. “The future of work is here, and it is hybrid,” comments Conrad Burger, MD of X -Furniture.
Imagine a future where, rather than coming into work and fumbling with space and technology, a building already knows you’re arriving because of a software update from the previous night. We need to demand more from our workplaces and buildings. Our buildings need to serve our communities better. They need to be designed to serve and support people who are using these spaces and doing the work. It is time to demand more from the workplace experience — more from technology, more of the impact we make on resilience, more for our whole selves, more for our health, and more of our investment in humanity.

Real Estate

Some of the world’s largest tech companies are holding off on office expansion in New York City.

Recently, Meta chose to walk away from taking up 300,000 more square feet on Broadway in a building where it currently occupies. Simultaneously, the company is holding off on expanding its Hudson Yards presence as it decides what the best use for the space will be.

Amazon, which in recent weeks delayed the opening of several newly built warehouses for up to two years, now says it’s pausing construction on five office towers in Bellevue, WA and another in Nashville in order to re-evaluate its office needs in both of those locations.

The e-commerce giant announced it has adopted a hybrid work strategy for corporate and tech positions and says it needs the construction pause on the office-tower projects to determine whether to revise office floor plans before the new buildings are completed.

Trends

Dustin A. Jackson, Ph.D. and BHDP’s Samantha Delabar explore ways to rebuild the lost connectedness as workers return to the office.
Effective collaboration has never been more important, or more difficult to execute. More than 50 percent of workers in the U.S. alone say their jobs are reliant on collaboration. At the same time, only 50 percent of leaders believe their organizations collaborate effectively.

Coworking

Saltbox subdivides warehouses and offers WeWork-style amenities, which makes logistics far easier for smaller e-commerce companies.

Makers

HNI Corporation today announced it has completed the sale of its China and Hong Kong–based Lamex office furniture business. The business was acquired by Kokuyo Co., Ltd. for 75 million US dollars, subject to standard post-closing adjustments.
Belgian furniture company Ethnicraft gets OK for expansion incentives that involve 68 jobs while Caldwell Banker Advantage would use the money from the city to relocate to the downtown area.
Addressing emerging needs in healthcare, Steelcase Health has launched solutions through an expanded collaboration with global design company West Elm and new partnership with experienced provider of durable, safe and welcoming furniture for behavioral health spaces, ModuForm.
G2 Esports, one of the world’s most distinctive and successful esports and entertainment brands, and Herman Miller Gaming, a division of luxury furniture maker Herman Miller specifically dedicated to research and development for gamers, announced today an exclusive partnership between the two brands. The partnership will provide G2’s gaming teams with Herman Miller Gaming equipment and create exclusive opportunities for the teams to collaborate on future products and research.
Whitestown-based Facility Concepts Inc. has acquired Surface Technologies Inc., also known as SurfaceTech, a Kansas City-based manufacturer of conference and board room tables and meeting space furniture. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Products

Canadian commercial furniture manufacturer, Tayco unveiled their latest Reception Collection at their head office in Toronto. Available through Dealer Partners across North America as of July 20, the new product line boasts three distinct styles that are sure to elevate the first impression of any passerby.
Building upon the signature softness, performance capabilities, and industry-leading sustainable properties of its inaugural launch, Supreen’s new menswear-inspired patterns offer a fresh yet decidedly classic upholstery option for commercial spaces from healthcare to hospitality alike.
All the patterns in Moveable Type reference typography and the history of printing.

Projects

Power Home Remodeling’s updated space by CRTKL reflects the goal of creating an engaging, collaborative environment.

Last Word

Accessory structures may feature a TV, kitchenette, water cooler and fold-out couch.
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