Survey Of Dealers, Designers, Facility Managers Examines Office Of The Future

Furniture World Magazine

Popular opinion holds that conventional offices will get smaller and home offices will become more prevalent in coming years, a viewpoint underscored by the findings of the most recent OFFICE TRENDS survey. In the spring '97 installment of the semiannual survey, OFFICE TRENDS asked contract furniture dealers, interior designers and facility managers for their opinions about what the office will be like in 2010. Respondents were asked to pinpoint their outlook on several issues on a scale of one (strongly disagree) to 10 (strongly agree). This topic was last explored in 1992, providing a comparison of how the industry's outlook has changed over the past few years. An overview of the findings: Smaller Offices. The development garnering the most agreement was "the office worker in 2010 will have a smaller office space." Its median score - encompassing all groups of panelists - was 8.2, a bit higher than the 7.5 that resulted when this question was asked in 1992. Flexible Furniture. Respondents perceive the next mostly likely scenario to be "future office furniture will be more flexible/movable for more impromptu meetings/special projects" - in other words, designed to support project teams. The median score here was 8. 1, identical to '92. Home Offices. The scenario perceived as third most likely was "the home office will account for at least 10% of total U.S. furniture sales." This one produced a median score of 7.8, significantly higher than the 6.6 reported in 1992 when the rapid growth of home offices was just becoming apparent. Compared with five years ago, all groups of panelists are also slightly more optimistic that "systems furniture will be replaced by newer, more innovative products," "the office will become wireless," and "office workers will spend at least 50% of their time out of the office, connected by technology." For subscription information or further details about OFFICE TRENDS, contact Michael Tourangeau at 616-954-0200 or via e-mail at kennedymi@aol.com.