The Office Furniture industry and all the associated professions including design and fit out, will need to take a long hard look at what may be coming down the road.
In an interview to Bloomberg Television, Morgan Stanlry CEO James Gorman said “We’ve proven we can operate with effectively no footprint”. The investment bank in the US moved about 90 percent of its 80,000 employees to work at home. It went very smoothly and “That tells you an enormous amount about where people need to be physically”, he said.
Although it is anticipated that most staff can return to office locations, its was clear the firm could operate with “much less real estate.”
The point being that this replicated, during what will be recovering economic circumstances, will have an impact on the supply of office products and projects.
In days gone by that would have been an opportunity to supply the home office, although that was limited in size and product sophistication. There may of course be some opportunity here but the attitude of ‘make do’ with what is on hand, is likely to predominate.
Wish I had a crystal ball, but it will be really important for the Office and Workplace industry to think right now about their strategy, and the future shape their businesses.
Watson King Business Advisors 