THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT HOME-OFFICE GEAR IS GETTING SMARTER AND CHEAPER--AND SOME OF IT'S PRETTY COOL TOO.
Let's face it. The way your job is expanding into nights and weekends, you'll either have to equip a top-flight office in your home or start stashing a toothbrush and pajamas in your desk. And the very thought of assembling such a home office--devoting an entire room to a half-dozen expensive, hard-to-learn machines that are slower than and not quite compatible with those in your real office--probably has you reaching for the floss. Well, put it back. The folks who make home-office gear have gotten real. Instead of pushing a vision of the future filled with pricey but less-than-crucial gadgets like videophones, they're making the stuff you need cheaper, smaller, and better. (If you're starting your home-office project with an extensive search for a videophone, it's time for you to get real; see box.)
Some 35 million American households have installed a home office, even with the comparatively bulky and expensive old equipment. That number is now growing by three million a year. Boggs figures each new home worker spends $3,000 to $5,000 outfitting his or her office initially, and about $1,000 on upgrades and supplies every year thereafter. To get in on that action, manufacturers decided it's easier, really, to change technology than people. What do people want in a home office? Simple.
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Why can't office products dealers hire salespeople?
Simply stated, there is a labor shortage in the United States (estimated to be in the 3 million range) and it has to do with the Baby Boomer generation. Here's the heart of the problem. Between the years 1948-1961, the socalled baby-boomer years, 76 million babies were born, thrusting a wave of new workers in the workforce. But they only gave birth to 36 million children. So today, in 1999, we suffer from a lack of available labor. Exacerbating the situation is an expanding economy. With fewer people available to meet the increased number of jobs available, there is an imbalance in the supply and demand of the labor pool. It's no wonder that the dealer cry went up, "I can't find people".
In the computer industry alone, there is a shortage of 500,000 programmers. This, in an era of computer-use explosion, is devastating to our economy. With pressure from America's Corporations, US Government has been forced to increase immigration quotas to bring in manpower, especially from those countries that produce many good, high quality computer programmers, such as China, India, and Russia. One dealer in Pennsylvania indicated to the writer that unemployment in his town was 2.1%, an historically low level. There just were no people available to interview.
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New & Used Office Furniture
Good for the Environment, Good for Your Business
Recycling paper, glass, aluminum cans and other everyday products is now standard practice in homes and offices across America. But many consumers are unaware that office furniture is also a recyclable product. Think about it. The basic structure of most office furniture has a long life span. Instead of wearing out, it is often replaced because it has been depreciated completely and/or fabric colors and other elements are outdated over time. In the past, an office face-lift or a new color scheme meant old furnishings were given a life sentence in storage or doomed to the dumpster. Not any more.
Today, Systems News and our members, supply high quality pre-owned office furniture to the marketplace. This process diverts some of the pre-owned office furniture out of the solid waste stream and back into the consumer market. Furniture destined for the dump is instead looking great and functioning like new?again. Not only does quality pre-owned furniture look and perform similar to new furniture, there is an average savings of 80% when compared with new. Systems News quality, pre-owned office furniture or their remanufactured office furniture offers an attractive alternative to purchasing new product.
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Movement wants fewer PVC office products
It's part of nearly every back-to-school shopping list: the colorful, durable three-ring vinyl binder. TheGreenOffice.com - a San Francisco online office supply store - has become the first retailer in its industry to stop selling products made from polyvinyl chloride, including those familiar vinyl binders. And environmentalists hope that the move will spur a similar shift away from PVC among other office products stores. "There are issues with PVC all along the product life cycle - in its manufacturing, use and disposal," said Alex Szabo, CEO and founder of TheGreenOffice, which started selling office products in January and expects revenues of over $1 million this year. "We hope over time to see PVC in the office products industry fading out."
Environmental groups and the plastics industry have been locked in battle for several years over the safety of polyvinyl chloride - a common form of plastic that has been used for decades in everything from phonograph records and plastic bath toys to plumbing and flooring. Groups such as Greenpeace and the Center for Health, Environment and Justice say PVC often includes toxic additives such as lead or phthalates. They claim that PVC factories have polluted surrounding communities with chemicals such as dioxin, and that disposing of old PVC products can release toxic chemicals into the groundwater or air. Plastic industry officials deny that PVC presents any health problems. "PVC products have provided great, safe, healthy effective service for decades," said Allen Blakey, spokesman for the Vinyl Institute, an association of PVC manufacturers.
