Could Office Cubicles be Going Away?

The ubiquitous beige cubicle in the DC Metro area may be joining the two-martini martini lunch in extinction, if office-furniture makers have their way, according to a recent Baltimore Business Journal article. 

The article was based on a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) piece that examines the history of office landscapes, from double-sided desks in the 1890s to the “flying chair” of the 1930s and the cubicle craze of the 1970s.

Herman Miller Inc., which the article cites as one of the companies that brought the high-walled cubicle layout to offices across the country, is a major player in the office-furniture industry that saw a 26 percent decline in revenue in 2009.

Now, Herman Miller is steering companies in the opposite direction, pushing companies toward more collaborative workspaces, and it has reportedly seen its revenue rise by almost a third in the past two years.

The WSJ article suggests that the trend actually began about a decade ago, but the recession slowed the change in office design.

With the economy improving, large local businesses such as Discovery Communications, UPS, Giant Food, Verizon, Marriott and Lockheed Martin could be prime targets for Herman Miller, Haworth and other office-furniture companies.

Haworth’s chief executive, Franco Bianchi, appears optimistic, telling the WSJ, “Projects that were sleeping for several years” have been rekindled.