Buying office furniture has never been considered a very exciting activity. The designs and colours, as well as the choice of items for the office, have always been pretty standard, no matter where you shop.

However, the recent Pandemic has hugely impacted every aspect of our everyday life… and work. Today`s offices are very different from what we saw just 5 years ago. And today`s most active generation of Millennials became the main driving force of those changes.

Today Millennials are believed to hold at least $600 billion of purchasing power and shape the core of the modern business community. And those businesses spend millions on office furniture today.

However, the office furniture market and how it works have changed dramatically over the past several years. It mainly happened due to practices, policies and purchasing habits common for the generation of Millennials.

In this article, we shall talk about those changes and the perspectives of the office furniture market as well as the corporate culture in general; which practices and trends will probably dominate and shape the offices of the future.


Where is the office?

Several years ago, there was a very distinctive life between career and everyday life, office and home. Coming to work, people were expected to look and behave in a certain manner which was determined by the corporate culture. And so was the office furniture.

Buying used office furniture, having a free dress code and having informal communication culture were mainly a lot of underdogs, small businesses or the so-called Mom-and-Pops. However, the recent Pandemic and its restrictions showed that those businesses actually shape the backbone of the world economy and job market.

That is why in the post-Covid world, startups, small private businesses, and their core population, the Millennials, started to dictate how the corporate culture will change, adapt and look in the future. Today we see big international corporations adopting practices like buying second-hand office furniture, introducing co-working spaces and a more informal environment to keep up with the new standards.

On the one hand, the line between work and life seemed to become much thinner since a suit and a tie became more optional and even archaic in the modern office. However, it is exactly what is helping people feel more comfortable and confident and find the perfect balance between their careers and private lives.


This is how we buy

The change in corporate culture and the environment of the modern community has naturally caused a dramatic change in the way modern workplaces are furnished.

While several years ago, you might not have noticed a difference between offices of two companies that may even work in entirely different fields, today`s businesses have their faces and personalities. The priorities have changed.

To buy office furniture back in the day, a business went to the dealer, determined their budget and the necessary set up and filled the workspace with pretty standard items.

Today office furniture is seen as an important asset for the business, one of the things that shape its face and determine the atmosphere. At the same time, modern businesses, just like the millennials, their driving force, expect the market to be competitive and offer a choice and various options.

That is how the market for second-hand office furniture has shaped and boomed in the past couple of years. Choosing to buy used office furniture instead of new items every time, Millennials refuse to play by the rules imposed by the established dealers and brands. 

Buying used office furniture today is not as much about affordable pricing as:

  • Eco-friendly choices;
  • Wider choice;
  • More control over the purchasing and shipment processes;
  • Perfect ratio between price and value.

Shopping online is another distinctive feature of the Millennial-driven market today. Several years ago, buying used office furniture was mainly associated with long trips to markets and storage or even going directly to the office that is selling its setup at the moment.

Today`s second-hand office furniture market gained the same level of online presence as any furniture brand. Except for online shops and marketplaces of used office furniture, we see the development of a large online community of people who sell, buy, and refurbish office and home furniture. People share their opinions and reviews, tips for buying and selling second-hand office furniture, building reputations of particular dealers and making the circular economy in office furnishing mainstream.


The past couple of years has entirely changed how we see modern workplaces. And while the Pandemic with its restrictions has definitely contributed to the process, the generation of Millennials who became the main driving force of the business community and the core of the world`s purchasing power continues to change the way we see corporate culture, office furnishing and workplace establishment.