Think back to the last industry event you attended: What was the average age of the attendee? To put it mildly, the office furniture industry is aging. And BIFMA is working to help attract young people to the industry. The furniture trade group recently hosted a panel discussion, “Finding Your Future Within the Furniture Industry” to help young professionals discover some of the attractive careers available to them in the industry.
The panel, sponsored by BIFMA’s Young Professionals Subcommittee, was made up of young professionals in the industry who described how they are making an impact on the world through their work.

The panel discussion focused on the opportunities and challenges in the furniture industry. The panelists discussed the importance of networking, staying updated with industry trends, and fostering cross-functional collaboration. They also highlighted the need for a focus on human needs and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the industry. The panelists explained how the furniture industry offers a unique blend of innovative, creative, and diverse career options and is constantly evolving, making it an exciting and desirable field to work in.
Panelists included Rachel De Deyn, senior designer at Trellis; Navid Forootan, laboratory management and manufacturing engineer at Via Seating; Clara McDowell, associate brand manager, growth strategies at Crate & Barrel; and Maria VanDeman, workplace advisor and sales manager at OFS. The panel was moderated by Amy Edington, product manager for the North American commercial furniture market at Cyncly.

Edington said those new to the industry might only think of manufacturing or design as career paths, but there are many diverse roles young professionals might consider.
“I think being able to be a part of something that is impactful to everybody’s day is something really important,” she said. “I think it also gives you a variety of different career paths, whether that be project management or the sales and design process. There are many, many roles that encompass this entire industry to make sure that we are all successful.”
It is also an industry that allows for a diversity of career options. Edington, for example, began as an interior designer, but moved into technology. An interior designer might be called on to help with the sales process as well.
Many of the panelists were surprised by the complexity found in the furniture industry. Forootan has only been in the industry for a little over three years. He graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from University of Nevada-Reno and began as an intern at Via Seating. He became a full-time engineer and lab manager after he graduated. He said there are many facets to the industry to learn as a young professional.

“I really didn’t know the amount of thought and work that goes into manufacturing furniture as an outside person that didn’t really have any idea about the industry. I always thought it was very simple, very straightforward, but I’m learning more and more about the technical [challenges] and all the effort and energy that needs to go into design, manufacturing and also the sale of the product.”
VanDeman moved into sales because of the flexibility and ability for her to create her own opportunities. She said sales roles can also have financial advantages as well. Still, at first she was hesitant about getting into sales.
“My role is really relationship building and that was preached to me before I took this job and it kind of sounded like a sales gimmick just to get me hired. But it truly is about providing resources to support people,” she said. “And when you really think about what sales is, it’s communicating with people and working with others to express our ideas and to present projects and solutions. So we’re all kind of selling something in a way, whether we’re in design or engineering. We all have ideas and perspectives and so the ability to be able to communicate those is really important whether you’re in a sales seat or whether you are doing something else.”

Because the industry is so interconnected, VanDeman said she has worked on building a high level of understanding of the various parts of the business, whether that’s supply chain or BIFMA testing, LEED standards or even trends because it helps her to be able to communicate with her clients and to be able to serve their needs. This broad understanding helps her “speak their language” because a design firm might care about sustainability and workplace trends, but a dealer principal really cares about the costs and the service. Understanding the greater industry helps her do her job better.
“I think a lot of people don’t see our industry as a valuable career path, and I think that’s one of the roadblocks to expanding and getting people involved,” she said. “So one of the things I do that I love is every year I go into my local college, I’m based in Miami, so I go to Florida International University, and I speak to the college design students about furniture, about OFS, also about our industry. And if they’re anything like I was in design school, they think that Gensler and Perkins&Will, these top tier design firms, are all there is out there, but there’s so much you can do with these design degrees.”
McDowell said the United States has a very strong work culture, which also can lead to burnout.
“In my experience as a young millennial and what I’ve seen with my millennial and Gen Z peers, I think our generation is taking the best of that work ethic and really striving to find a better balance,” she said. “So far in my career I’ve learned that creating healthy boundaries is the best way to achieve that. I can’t promise that you’ll never have to work a long night or pull out your laptop on a weekend, but what I can tell you is that balance is found through having comparable trade offs. Sometimes you’re going to go to an hour and a half lunch with colleagues or leave at 4:30 because you have a doctor’s appointment and other times you’re going to need to work longer hours to finish that presentation or to come up with a creative solution to a critical business objective.”
Attracting and retaining talent is important at Trellis, an office furniture dealer in Grand Rapids, said De Deyn. It can be a challenge, because the dealer needs to address unique preferences and still align with the specific company’s values and goals.
“Trellis specifically, we retain and attain talent by emphasizing a great work-life balance. We offer flexible work arrangements, meaning the ability to work from home or from other locations. One of our designers this week actually is working from Colorado. She was working in the mornings and then is able to have free time in the evenings. So we offer that flexibility that you can work where you need to and when you need to,” she said.
Trellis also consistently promotes how meaningful its work is. “I always leave work feeling like I’ve made a difference,” she said.
VanDeman said she enjoys the industry because of its flexibility and the diversity of work. “Every day is different. One day I might be renting a stinky U-Haul and hauling chairs for a show and another day I’m sitting down and crunching numbers and then maybe I am jetting off in a private plane to take clients to our corporate headquarters. And that variety is so interesting because it means that I’m never bored. I’m not trying to say it’s all rainbows and butterflies because it is hard work and can be long hours, but there’s motivation to do the right thing and work hard because it’s my name on the line and it’s also my paycheck that comes through when I’m doing things right.”
Click here to watch a recording of the panel discussion.