Office furniture is getting a makeover.

Gone are dull colors, tight cubicles and changeless office fixtures.

In are soothing colors, wide-open spaces and furniture that can be reshaped, reorganized and re-imagined on a whim.

As Generation Y (born 1978-89) enters the work force demanding autonomy of place and breadth of creativity, companies are adjusting previously-held notions of business. Also in line for adjustment is the office furniture of these businesses.

Now, office furniture must mimic the chaotic workforce it aims to serve, providing transient work stations, wireless capabilities and the allusion of limitless space, all while keeping Gen Y workers “satisfied and content.”

And yet, the office furniture industry has been waiting for this sort of upheaval for a long time. And so too, it seems, have businesses.

“What really has gotten us here is wireless capabilities and the new workforce,” said George Pfeiifer, owner of Affordable Office Interiors in Carol Stream. “People who come out of college today are used to working that way, to multi-tasking.

“They don’t need the private cubicle or private office like older generations, which is finally creating a change in the industry that has been trying to happen for some time.”

The change has been two-fold: businesses had grown tired of the old model of work spaces characterized by isolation, separation of management and worker, and communication restraints, and businesses also now had a plethora of new technologies like e-mail, Internet and wireless technology.

With the new workforce, businesses also had workers eager and willing to work within this new mode.

What has emerged is a new model for business offices—in operation, in layout and in office furniture, and in that order.

“It’s not about the furniture,” said Tom Klobucher, owner of Thomas Interior Systems Inc. in Bloomingdale.

Foremost, the new trends are about operation, which then affects layout, which then affects furniture.

“It’s not about the hardware, stupid, it’s about the software,” Klobucher said, mimicking an old campaign slogan.

The software, or trends, affecting the furniture industry are being embraced at all levels of business. The trends are the preaching of mobility, communication and everything comfortable.

Mobility, arguably the least paramount of the three change catalysts, nevertheless has been a huge boon for businesses and employees alike.

“The biggest trend that has finally come to the forefront, that had been trying to emerge for a long time, is that a lot of companies are trying to reduce the amount of real estate and go to a more mobile workspace,” said Pfeiffer.

“The idea is to get more people into a space with a smaller footprint, into a smaller amount of real estate,” he said. “That’s what’s driving this. Companies are trying to find ways to lower real estate costs and this helps for that.”

The trend is that businesses are going away from providing private offices (real estate), and replacing them with collaborative work spaces. Known in the industry as “Touchdown Stations” or
”Hoteling Stations,” these communal work spaces lower real estate costs while providing offices with high-energy, high-creativity spaces for collaboration.

Wireless technology—a huge force in office trends—is making the change to mobility possible.

“Before, the industry was strapped by wires,” said Pfeiffer. “You had to have a place to plug your laptop into. Now you can move around the office and be more mobile.

“Now you can come into the office, sit at a collaborative station, plug your laptop in, work for the day, then leave again,” he said.

This mobility and lack of privacy, say experts, is embraced by new generation workers and managers alike. It encourages communication, provides freedom, and allows offices to retain low real estate costs.

Managers are also finding out that technology allows workers to be mobile and efficient outside the office as well.

If workers can operate wirelessly outside of the office, that frees up more space within the office.

“Today, most people, whether you’re working at home or working at Panera Bread, don’t need a full-time work space if it’s going to sit idle,” said Pfeiffer.

This mobility of work space allows managers to further reduce overhead costs. It also has forced managers to adopt entirely new techniques in managerial styles.

“The new workforce today with mobile workers working outside the office has meant that managers have to manage differently,” said Pfeiffer. “In the old days managers would determine how their employees are doing by how much they saw them. But today, employers are much more mobile and out of the office, and managers have to evaluate workers differently.”

The office furniture industry, in response to the mobility trend, is focused on providing smaller workspaces in conjunction with collaborative work areas. Manufacturers are creating furniture to satisfy every need of the mobile workforce, from large communal tables to mobile workstations. Office furniture providers, meanwhile, have assumed the new task of assisting businesses in office interior layouts.

Office furniture will not evolve much from the standard desks, chairs, tables and separators, say experts. The real evolution is in the layout of these fixtures.

The second trend to hit business offices is just this: layout. And it arrives with intentions of promoting better communication among workers.

Office communication evolved from the early 1950s standard of rows upon rows of desks in large office rooms to the more current mode of privacy typified by the ever-reviled office cubicle.

While cubicles, or office separators, still account for the largest product share in the office furniture industry, the new trend is characterized by wide-open cubicles, communal cubicles and less isolating work environments. All this is being done in the name of “better communication,” and to ensure happier workers and more creative synergies.

Again, the sensibilities of the new generation workforce are affecting the layout of cubicles and, to a larger extent, the layout of entire offices.

“They’re used to working so much different than 40-year-olds,” said Pfeiffer. “They don’t need the cubicles. Companies and furniture will have to adapt to the new workforce. You will see a whole lot more creativity in furniture to support the new worker.”

But the demise of traditional cubicles extends far beyond what just young workers want, in Klobucher’s opinion. The desire to work in communal wide-open areas extends to people of all ages in the office.

“You stick people in cubicles and offices and expect to them to be creative?” Klobucher asked rhetorically. “That’s not happening!”

The office furniture industry has taken notice of the desire to break out of cubicles. So have furniture designers, interior designers, and office managers.

What began as a “grass roots thing toward quality” in the late 1980s has blossomed into a full-fledged movement to take back the office in 2008, said Klobucher.

Office furniture is now designed to facilitate office-wide communication. Separation panels are shorter to allow workers to see and interact with each other. Work spaces no longer are isolated 3-wall oases. And private work spaces in general, while still used, are being fazed out for communal Touchdown and Hoteling stations.

The traditional cubicle work space isn’t what it used to be. That being said, neither is the corner office.

“The more progressive corporations are changing,” said Pfeiffer. “The managers are right in the cubicles with everyone else. When they need to meet privately they go elsewhere. This trend will continue more and more.”

The trend toward comfort—arguably the most surprising and most eye-catching trend of modern business—is affecting businesses of all sizes, and is trickling down to office furniture designers.

In America, nearly two-thirds of office workers are unhappy with their office environments, say experts. The new generation workforce, thought to be high-maintenance but productive, is pressing for a more comfortable work environment in light of this.

“Having a good place to work isn’t just having a pretty place to work,” said Klobucher. “It’s about being attuned to the needs of the people working.”

In progressive offices, those needs and comforts are popping up in unexpected ways.

Office cappuccino bars and juice bars are not uncommon. Comfortable lounges—complemented with flat screen televisions, hip music and giant floor pillows—exist for managers and employees to meet and discuss business matters. Gaming devices, exercise rooms, even restaurants are present to ensure comfort.

But before accusations of “pampered” are made, many experts and, increasingly, many office managers, are seeing the benefit from providing comfort to their employees.

“Productivity goes off the charts,” Klobucher said, noting that the “culture” of comfortable offices is happy, productive and efficient.

“That’s what the young, creative, knowledgeable work force wants now,” he said, referring to offices that resemble hangouts. “They’re looking for a community with other creative people, creative work tools and a user-friendly work environment. When you have that, everybody wins.

“It’s not about money anymore” for new generation workers, said Klobucher. “It’s about being fulfilled and feeling good about what you’re doing. It’s surprising what happens when a company puts a pool table in the lounge area. People talk, people work.

“Make the people happy and you will have an effective organization,” he said.

The office furniture industry—while not in the business of making pool tables—has catered to this trend by gratifying the new generation’s other stereotypes, that of a civic-minded and socially conscious people.

“Everyone is hyping ‘green’ right now,” said Pfeiffer. Interest in recyclable furniture has increased exponentially in the market. Driven both by the bottom line and by workers’ consciences, remanufactured office furniture—and “green buildings” in general—are wildly popular.

Herman Miller, one of the largest manufacturers of office furniture, is widely considered a leader in the arena of environmental furniture, say experts. It makes office chairs from 100 percent recycled materials. These same chairs can then be 100 percent recycled again at the end of their use.

Office carpet, once tossed into dumpsters and delivered to landfills, is also finding second life in renewed recycling efforts across the country.

Office furniture of all types—desks, chairs, separation panels—all are undergoing tutorials in environmental stewardship.

“In making office furniture work stations now people are asking for products that are biodegradable,” said Klobucher. Desktops and work stations are now being made out of wheat board, eco-resin and other recyclable materials.

It is no wonder, then, that the office furniture industry for remanufactured products is booming.

“The fastest growing product in our company is remanufactured products, re-selling new furniture,” said Klobucher. Often, furniture is sold at one-third the cost of the original product. Not only are buyers winning but so is the environment, he said.

M. Grace Sielaff, owner of interior design firm M. Grace Designs in Hinsdale, also noted that many interior design projects are won by her firm’s ability to educate businesses on eco-friendly buildings, furniture, and design.

“It’s nice to introduce some of these (environmental) lines to clients and see them go ‘Wow!’ over it,” said Sielaff.

Business offices also are buying eco-friendly furniture in efforts to achieve their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications too, said Pfeiffer. Earning the LEED certificate—a nationally recognized award—qualifies building owners for tax rebates, zoning allowances, and other incentives in hundreds of cities.