The office workplace will never the same again as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Dealer group Office Brands has gone on the promotional front foot by highlighting the adjustments company managers will have to make as employees gradually return to their sanitiused desks.

 

Office Brands CEO Gavin Ward told Smart Company that sales of personal office supplies, including label-makers, labels, disposable wooden cutlery, staples and bar fridges are “skyrocketing” as everyone wants access to their own things.

 

Ward said the group has seen a 200 per cent increase in sales of its range of disposable cups, plates and cutlery and a “significant shift” towards sales of individual sugar and coffee sachets, compared to larger jars and tins.

 

It’s also seeing a growing preference from shoppers for single-serve, individually wrapped lollies and biscuits, over larger packets and containers. 

 

“We are going to see a lot more people using and bringing single-use items into the workplace,” Ward said.

 

Office Brands has also seen an increase in sales of barriers for between desks, which are essential in order to maintain effective social distancing in the workplace.

 

Ward said it is inevitable that businesses will begin removing hot desks, offering more sick leave flexibility and reducing shared items as office-based work resumes.

 

He added that a reduction in the use of shared items may also see the distribution of office survival packs.

 

“We are already seeing a surge in the purchase of label makers and labels so that people and workplaces can place labels on certain items to create ownership and avoid unwanted use by others,” he said.

 

“Labelling everything will be the new norm,” he said.

 

IMAGE: Weatherdon Nero bar fridge.