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Oasis Furniture:
Hot Desking: A Hot Trend But Not For Everyone

By Khaw Chia Hui

Oasis Furniture Industries Sdn Bhd attributes its success as a major player in the office furniture space to understanding and keeping up with the current trends in each country that its ships to. This understanding is important as one trend may not necessarily be a blanket solution for all its customers.

Hotdesking is becoming a growing trend in most Western regions and beginning to take its place in Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia. Ralph Ong, Managing Director of the Malaysia-based Oasis Furniture Industries Sdn Bhd says that hotdesking is one of his company’s main priorities this year but it isn’t for all their customers.

The objective of identifying the hotdesking trend is so that designers can create the right kinds of products for a mobile or temporary workforce. And as this nomadic tendency continues to rise, smaller companies have taken to office hoteling, rather than paying rental costs for a fixed, and often underutilised, office space. Solutions for hotdesking and office hoteling are designed to maximise a fixed amount of space that can suit several workers’ different needs at different times.

“If you look at offices, especially MNCs, you’ll start to realise that they are introducing the hotdesking concept to many Asian countries. For example, a pharmaceutical company in Taiwan managed to save up to 50 percent of space from our solutions and yet keeping the same overheads in its employment,” Ralph said.

Ong admits that space-saving solutions are becoming an increased trend, alongside health, comfort and aesthetics properties. A nurturing office environment helps to boost efficiency and productivity and maximised office space can greatly reduce fixed and overhead costs. Currently, in Oasis’ stable of products, concepts such as space saving, ergonomics, mobility, flexibility and style are definitely present. It is no surprise as Oasis spends about 1.5 percent of its annual revenue in R&D, on which time is spent to look for the right design and materials to enhance durability. Oasis also does overseas surveys and of course face-to-face interviews to gather input from particular markets.

Deeper Understanding Of Hotdesking

Ralph shared that the current working landscape has changed tremendously compared to five years back. No longer are people bound to their desks – now a lot of work gets done in groups where brainstorming, small meetings and such is thrown into the mix. Since technology has empowered the current crop of workforce with portable computers and WiFi hotspots, the need to have a large personal space is no longer relevant.

For example, a network equipment provider equipped its offices with central lockers and a lot of shared public working spaces. Workers can keep their personal belongings in the central lockers and adjourn to the shared work area. Desks aren’t sporting pedestals anymore and the office environment is more open and airy. Even filing storages are lesser seen as a lot of files and work-related documents are stored digitally on network servers.

Interpretation Of Space Saving

Oasis’ latest try out would be an office modular sofa known as Jama, from its Arte Como brand. Jama’s flexibility allows space to be utilised in a more efficient way, accommodating more mobile employees who merely need a short break or to sit down and complete quick tasks on their laptops. When unused, the individual components can be rearranged to minimise space occupancy. Its choice of colours also adds a dash of fervour to the overall office environment. Alongside Jama, Oasis also introduced mesh chairs. These chairs are smaller in size and their material is airy, making them comfortable for employees. Its arm handles and lumbar support are adjustable.

Overall Ong says he sees the hotdesking/office hoteling trend to continue in most European and more developed Asian countries, as well as Bahrain, Qatar, Australia and New Zealand. However, in markets such as Saudi Arabia and Dubai, traditional office system arrangements still apply.