COVID-19 has upended working life, changing how and where people do their jobs.
IN RECENT weeks the lockdown and social distancing in India has seen thousands of employees set up an office in their very own homes. In fact, according to many reports, COVID-19 pandemic could lead to Work From Home (WFH) becoming a regular thing. WFH is today an accepted norm in many sectors, especially in the IT sector, as it promotes a good work-life balance and enhances productivity.
The preliminary estimate developed by IHS Markit of the North American office, education, and healthcare furniture market for 2019 was estimated to be $16.99 billion by the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association. That is a gain of 4.3 percent over the actual 2018 market size figure.
The market in the U.S. was estimated to be just under $15 billion for 2019, an increase of 5.5 percent.
MUSCATINE, Iowa–(BUSINESS WIRE)–HNI Corporation (NYSE: HNI; “the Corporation”) is providing an update related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
CEO Comment
“First and foremost, our focus during this crisis is on the well-being of our members. To protect our teams, we have implemented workplace measures consistent with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the situation is dynamic, at this point we continue to operate at our primary manufacturing locations,” stated Jeff Lorenger, HNI Corporation, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. “We entered this crisis in a position of strength. We have low debt levels and possess liquidity equivalent to more than two years of free cash flow. While the ultimate impact of the outbreak is uncertain, we are confident in our ability to effectively weather this crisis.”
ZEELAND, Mich. — A major office furniture maker is taking “a set of actions” to reduce its costs.
The moves by Herman Miller are in response to the “uncertain economic outlook” amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the company today.
Herman Miller said it is reducing “cash compensation” for the majority of its salaried workforce by 10%.
/PRNewswire/ — Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ: MLHR), the global designer and furniture manufacturer, announced today a set of actions throughout its global operations in response to the uncertain economic outlook resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been carefully considering the right things to do for our people and our company to ensure we have both a healthy employee base and business when we emerge from these uncertain times,” said Andi Owen, President and CEO of Herman Miller. “Just as we entered this crisis in a strong financial position, we are taking immediate actions to reduce expenses and manage liquidity so we can maintain strong financial footing on the other side of it.”
HOLLAND — Herman Miller is responding to the shelter-in-place and similar government orders at its headquarters in Zeeland and various locations around the world.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-home executive order requires non-essential businesses to close for three weeks until April 13.
Starting Monday, March 30, Herman Miller announced in a press release it anticipated bringing back as much as 30 percent of its manufacturing employees to help support customers who are “actively engaged in the COVID-10 response.”
Gabriel A/S has today acquired 100% of the share capital of the German fabric-solution manufacturer Visiotex GmbH. The price for the shares is agreed at EUR 0.5 million in cash. In addition hereto bank debt of approx. EUR 2.0 million is taken over.
Visiotex is recognised within the furniture industry for innovative fabric solutions. The patented Wovenit-technology makes it possible, in one process, to design and produce fabric-solutions with built-in functionality without subsequent cutting and sewing.
Steelcase today announced Catherine “Triona” C.B. Schmelter has been appointed to its board of directors. Ms. Schmelter is President, Meal Solutions of TreeHouse Foods, Inc., a $4.3B Fortune 500 manufacturer of packaged foods and beverages.
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