Workplace transformation

Those office chairs you’re sitting on? That table that your computer (and probably your coffee cup) rests on? You might not give the items in your work environment more than a passing thought but the global office furniture market is big business: in 2024, it was valued at US$65.6 billion and it is projected to reach US$115 billion by 2034.

Deeply invested in the growth of the industry is Haworth India’s Managing Director Manish Khandelwal. The company has been growing faster than the industry rate for the past 18 months and has its sights set on being the market leader in the next two-to-three years.

“The workspace environment is one of the most dynamic sectors,” Khandelwal tells The CEO Magazine.

Since joining the company in 2024, he has witnessed the expansion of Global Capability Centers, with increasing investment by Indian companies.

For Khandelwal, these developments signal something bigger than market growth. India is emerging as one of the world’s most dynamic future-of-work ecosystems, as organizations modernize their workplaces to support increasingly global, collaborative and knowledge-driven workforces.

This segment of the market has grown so much that Haworth now has a dedicated vertical for national accounts and education.

“Western universities are coming to India to set up world-class campuses with a focus on active learning, and we have products to support them. At the same time, the Indian education system is also upgrading,” he explains.

“This evolution has broader implications. As Gen Z and Gen Alpha enter universities and workplaces, expectations of physical environments are changing, increasing demand for spaces that are flexible, collaborative and designed around different ways of learning and working.”

Workplace wellbeing, collaborative working spaces and focus areas are also seeing rising demand and with them, market demand for economically designed chairs and pods, a sector growing by 20–30 percent year-on-year. Such innovative designs can improve workplace productivity, cognitive performance and the quality of collaboration.

Hybrid work is accelerating this transformation.

“These are a different ball game altogether,” Khandelwal says. “Growth centers are also changing. Earlier, we used to be very focused on tier one markets, the likes of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. After the COVID-19 pandemic, tier two markets started to evolve and we’ve started putting a strong dealership network around cities like Kochi, Coimbatore and Ahmedabad.”

He also believes AI will fundamentally influence the future role of the workplace and expects human contribution to shift further toward higher-value activities such as ideation, collaboration and problem-solving.

Fewer, bigger, bolder

For Khandelwal, key to capitalizing on this opportunity is shifting the company away from the transactional approach to business he found when he joined towards a customer-centric, solutions-provider lens.

It’s a strategy that can also lean into the 16 design brands under the Haworth Lifestyle umbrella, including heritage Italian brands Poltrona Frau, Cassina and Cappellini. This combination of workplace expertise and the wider design ecosystem enables Haworth to offer more integrated and differentiated environments for its clients.

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“Our partnership with Haworth in India has been built on a shared focus on quality, design integrity and reliable execution. Their ability to align global standards with local requirements makes delivery seamless. At Matrix Workspace Solutions, this enables us to create workspaces that are thoughtful, efficient and built to perform over time.” – Kewwal Thakkar, Founder & Managing Director, Matrix Workspace Solutions.

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But Khandelwal knows that it’s one thing to map out a vision and another to execute it.

“Execution is key to success,” he says. “We can dream, but if we don’t execute it’s of no use.”

A major focus for Khandelwal has therefore been laying out the organizational groundwork required to deliver on the company’s new ambitions.

“Day in and day out, we are more structured now, we are more focused on growth. We know the plan and we know the steps to reach it and we’re moving into that direction very well,” he says.

“We believe in ‘fewer, bigger, bolder.’ We are focusing on three or four critical points for growth and we’re trying to explore them as much as possible.”

A local focus

Part of a global company with its headquarters in Holland, Michigan, Haworth India is placing an emphasis on creating a local manufacturing footprint for the global designs that are particularly suited to the Indian market, Khandelwal explains.

“We’re introducing more and more localization, as cost is very important for Indian customers,” he notes, adding that the company has one of the biggest localized seating production capabilities across the business.

As part of this strategy, Haworth is expanding its manufacturing capabilities through its planned second manufacturing plant and an expanded dealer network across India, while deepening relationships with key partners such as Matrix Architectural Solutions, BuzziSpace and others. Together, these initiatives reinforce Haworth’s long-term commitment to building sustainable growth.

“India is one of the world’s most important emerging workplace transformation markets in our industry right now,” Khandelwal says.

“We need to evolve and keep pace with the changes that are happening with the industry. On one side, we are building our manufacturing capabilities. On the other side, we are strengthening our customer operations, customer interactions and experiences around the brand to cater to this ever-evolving dynamic environment in India.

An environment for everyone

As the true figures of neurodivergence in the workforce come to light, Haworth is also ensuring it caters to neurodivergent employees.

For Khandelwal, designing for neurodiversity is not simply about individual workplace products. It requires greater consideration of acoustics, lighting, temperature, sensory comfort and the broader experience of the physical environment.

“Acoustics is one of the most critical aspects, and one of the most overlooked, too,” Khandelwal says.

“At the same time, our products, like pods with circadian lights and ambient temperatures are catering for that neurodiverse element.

“We are also creating sensory experiences throughout the showrooms, where you can touch, feel and smell, so that you get more connected with the space. Neurodiverse people feel more involved in the spaces we are creating.”

As the nature of work continues to evolve, Khandelwal believes organizations will need to think more deeply about the relationship between people, technology and the environment in which work happens. For Haworth, the opportunity lies not simply in responding to these changes but in helping organizations prepare for what comes next.

“The best way to predict the future is to build it,” Khandelwal concludes.