Japanese furniture maker responds to COVID impact. 

 

Japanese office furniture and stationery maker Kokuyo has developed a unique solution to social distancing in smaller offices with the launch of the Work Pod.

 

The Work Pod is a one-person booth that gives workers a closed space where they can focus on paperwork or online meetings, with a feature that automatically recirculates the air inside every 30 seconds.

 

Kokuyo has already received more than 100 inquiries from corporate customers about the new offering. 

 

While orders for new office furniture products normally start coming in only after the company begins marketing them, the Work Pod drew an enthusiastic response immediately after Kokuyo's initial press release.

 

"The office furniture and stationery businesses have been put in a tough position by the rise in telework and at-home schooling" Kokjuyo’s president Hidekuni Kuroda said. "We urgently need to pivot to products

and services that support these new ways of life." 

 

Kokuyo has also stepped up marketing for personal lockers and work stations with tall partitions designed for smaller spaces.