The desk enjoys a fundamental role in every office. Traditionally, it is each employee’s personal workspace and can come in many shapes, sizes and styles. However, due to changes in the way people work and the need for more flexible working environments, are we seeing the death of the desk?
At Procol, while we don’t believe the desk will ever be dead, we have noticed a change in the types of desks our clients want. In particular, there has been an increase in the demand for furniture such as stand-up and height-adjustable desks.
These allow working environments to be more adaptable, and are in keeping with initiatives that encourage staff to take regular breaks from their screen, conduct walking meetings, and avoid being in the same seated position for less time. All of this marks a move away from the classic view of office workers being sat at their desk all day.
According to some workplace studies, many office desks are only being utilised around 60% of the time, meaning that approximately 40% of the time desk space isn’t being used except as a place to store paperwork, phones and computers.
Businesses are therefore seeking more creative ways of working for their employees. By moving away from the traditional idea of having one desk per person, valuable space within the office environment becomes free – which allows for business growth, cost savings or both.
For the foreseeable future, offices will need both desks and desk space, but that space will need to evolve and adapt to a changing working environment and changing business needs.
Procol can specify, source and install everything within our office design concepts – including desks and office furniture. For more details, please get in touch.