Five Trends for Office Spaces in 2022: How Should Furniture Be Customized?

As society advances and new industries keep emerging, work modes and office spaces are constantly reshaping the public's expectations — and these changes drive the iteration of office furniture, bringing new challenges to manufacturers. Today we share five trend insights for office spaces in 2022, offering more creative ideas for companies planning custom furniture.

1. Spaces feel like home; furniture customization goes "de-commercial"

After two years of routine pandemic controls, the longing for working from home hasn't faded — so many companies are designing workplaces as comfortable and relaxed as home, which indirectly encourages employees to stay in the office. For this, look for a manufacturer with its own R&D design team. Small factories only handle manufacturing and cannot offer professional advice on the overall space up front, let alone distill each company's unique culture into a tailored space design.

2. Spaces go digital-intelligent; furniture customization gets smart

According to surveys, by 2023 more than 60% of large Chinese companies will invest in employees' remote-work capabilities, ensuring staff can collaborate independently and in real time. Digital-intelligent office spaces are therefore set to be highly sought after, and smart office furniture is the inevitable trend. Many manufacturers' smart-furniture R&D still stops at sit-stand desks and wireless-charging tables — but Yihang, with its own R&D center, is already at the industry's forefront of smart furniture customization. The Yunge smart chair, featured by CCTV, is a case in point: it uses optical fiber sensing to collect data and feeds it back to users through an app, helping you adjust your posture in time.

3. Spaces diversify; furniture customization turns personal

Offices of the past ignored individual differences among employees and served only a single work function — leaving a poor impression on job candidates. With Gen Z now the main force in the workplace, office spaces in 2022 will be carved into many zones: private work, discussion and meetings, entertainment and leisure, and so on, letting employees freely choose where to work based on the task. When buying furniture, spend time touring manufacturers' showrooms — especially large ones, whose product development is built on extensive research data. Their innovative ideas about personalized furniture customization may well spark fresh thoughts for your own project.

4. Spaces turn sustainable; furniture customization goes modular

Entrepreneurship has become a real career choice for college graduates, and with graduate numbers rising year by year, startups will be everywhere. Limited by funding and headcount, startups choose compact offices — so how do you build sustainable, growing functional value into a small space? Have the manufacturer design furniture in modules: transformable multi-use desks, foldable chairs, and the like. One caution: choose an experienced manufacturer for modular furniture, since precise furniture structures are what make reassembling components smooth and easy.

5. Spaces go eco-natural; furniture customization embraces biomimetic design

Urbanization has intensified our desire to reconnect with nature, so in the work environment, have the manufacturer build more biomimetically designed furniture, creating an environment where nature and people blend perfectly. Materials and manufacturing technology matter enormously too — since manufacturers vary widely in strength, be sure to verify their credentials during procurement. Only when details like edge banding and spray painting are done properly do you get truly natural, well-crafted furniture.

In short, the trends of office spaces and furniture customization go hand in hand, so when a company settles the style and functions of its office early on, furniture customization should already be part of the plan. We recommend entrusting a professional manufacturer like Yihang, which offers one-stop, whole-space solutions and tailors the highest-quality plan for your company from every dimension.