Steelcase CEO No Longer Preaching That Remote Work Will Disappear
Steelcase saw “increased interest” a quarter ago among U.S.-based companies about returning their employees to the physical office by early January, said CEO Jim Keane on a fiscal Q3 investor call. With the worsening spikes in COVID-19 that began in…
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October, “our customers put off their plans to return to the office, with many now talking about sometime next summer,” he said. Steelcase, the world’s largest manufacturer of office furniture, is a bellwether of coronavirus work-from-home trends. “Orders and shipments weakened” in Q3, ended Nov. 27, as the pandemic worsened, and revenue declined 35% from a year earlier, he said. Fiscal Q4, ending late February, “is going to be challenging, as we get to the bottom of this crisis,” he said. The company reduced U.S. production hours “to better match capacity with demand,” he said. “Work-from-home is surging this year for obvious reasons,” said Keane, deviating from remarks in recent quarters that remote work would disappear completely with the passing of the pandemic (see 2007020009). “More people will choose to work from home from time to time” and will need higher-quality “ergonomic furniture” for their home work spaces, he said, identifying unconventional avenues for Steelcase addressable growth. As more employees telework at least part time, the physical commercial office also “will need additional updates to support more remote meeting participants and more individual video meetings,” he said.