Offices of the future: 5 ways they will get weirder
OFM Jupiter Series table.jpg
OFM Jupiter series table.

Someone in 1980 could have easily come up with a future where people used super-efficient electric typewriters and cordless phones, wrote Blake Zalcberg, chief executive officer of OFM, in the Huffington Post. But they couldn't have imagined a world where everyone held mini computers in their pocket, texting coworkers and writing documents on their smart phone while they Facetime with their kids. Here's Zalcberg's take:

The office of 2045 is likely to be more outlandish than it is to be similar to the office of today. Consider five ideas about what the office of the future might look like.

1. The whole office will be a computer

Already, many office workers have two computer screens on their desks. The office of the future will have a wall of touch screen workstations that allow you to directly connect to a customer's needs through app-like software. Your desk and chair will have a built-in docking station to charge your phone and share information with your main computer.

2. Office furniture will be super smart

Your chair will monitor your health with built-in sensors that can tell when you've been sitting for too long. It will remind you to get up and walk around and will adjust automatically according to your height and weight. When you get up from your chair and walk away it will tell your computer to secure your email and other communication programs. It will also tell your coworkers when you are at your desk.

You will just scan your ID card or thumb at the door and the lighting, chair and your computer will adjust accordingly

3. Everything will be virtually real

Virtual reality is getting better all the time. When it's time to meet with a client, our coworkers, or other professionals for a conference, we'll put on glasses and meet in a virtual space that's cooler than any conference room we sit in now. As a result, old-fashioned conversation, face-to-face, will make a comeback, replacing emails, except it will all be virtual.

4. You won't have your own office

Dedicated office space will be a perk given to only the most senior management as in many cases it is now. Other workers will use flex space with furniture that automatically adjusts to their personal settings. You will just scan your ID card or thumb at the door and the lighting, chair and your computer will adjust accordingly.

5. It will be a 24-7 workplace

Already we are working more with our smart phones and Apple watches and other electronic devices, checking our work email accounts night and day and communicating with coworkers after hours through Slack and other instant messaging programs at night and on the weekends.


Blake Zalcberg is chief executive officer of OFM, an office and school furniture manufacturer, distributor, and wholesaler headquartered in North Carolina See  www.ofminc.com.

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