GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer visited office and contract furniture giant Steelcase to say that employees may return to work. Whitmer also said that vaccinated workers are no longer required to wear masks on the job.

Rules forcing employees to work from home if possible were lifted across the state. Michigan is home to many big furniture makers, including Steelcase, Haworth, and Herman Miller. 

Steelcase leader Jim Keane said the decision marked "a great day for Michigan and a great day for people who work in offices."

Like many other companies, Steelcase struggled over the past year.

In late March as a response to state orders, Steelcase temporarily laid off nearly all of its hourly manufacturing and distributing employees in Michigan. The only hourly workers to remain were those serving the healthcare industry. It also slashed the salaries of all salaried workers. Keane received a base pay of just $1, while other executives saw a 60 percent pay cut, and the pay of all other salaried workers was cut by 50 percent. 

In September, the company announced that 300 of its employees - or 8 percent of its total workforce - would leave the company through "early retirements, voluntary separations, and involuntary separations."

The company saw revenue declines in the latter part of 2020.