New Office Product Line Helps Cube Dwellers Organize Small Workspaces

Mountains of unfiled paperwork. To-do lists from six months ago and Post-it(R) Notes that have lost their stick. Do you ever wonder if there is any room left for you?

According to a recent national survey* sponsored by Fellowes Inc., an office supply company, Americans are feeling more cramped at work than ever before. Nearly 50 percent of full and part-time working adults that work in an office cubicle indicate that their bathroom is larger than their cubicle, and nearly a quarter say their closet (23 percent) or kitchen pantry (23 percent) is bigger.

On top of that, the average office space per person continues to decrease, dropping from 410 square feet per employee in 1997 to 355 square feet in 2001(1), making it increasingly difficult to stay organized. One in five survey respondents say their office cubicle makes them less organized. And messy cubicles affect more than the 59 percent of Americans who work in a cubicle (2). In fact, the average desk worker has thirty-six hours of work on his or her desk and spends three hours per week sorting piles trying to find the project to work on next(3).

While many people want to personalize their work area, limited spaces makes it a challenge. More than half of survey respondents say they would have to sacrifice personal items such as books, family photos and trinkets to make more room for work-related items.

In response to the growing trend of shrinking workspaces, Fellowes developed the Partition Additions(TM) product line that helps workers maximize their cramped space. The unique system moves files and other office supplies to cubicle walls to clear clutter from desktops, while keeping everything within arms reach. The product line also includes patented steel points that grip to cubicle walls for practical and secure vertical organization.

"Shrinking work spaces not only contribute to office frustrations, but make it nearly impossible to stay organized and keep track of important work documents," said Tim Shipley, Marketing Manager at Fellowes, Inc. "The Partition Additions line maximizes personal workspace, which helps employees stay organized and productive and even allows them more room for personal items."

About Fellowes

Headquartered in Itasca, Ill., Fellowes, Inc. offers an impressive range of products to equip the workspace, including paper shredders, binders and laminators, desktop accessories and record storage solutions.

  Sources:
  1. International Facility Management Association, 2001
  2. International Facility Management Association "Space and Project
     Management Benchmarks, Research Report #28," 2006
  3. "The Overload Syndrome," Richard A. Swenson, 1998


  * The survey interviewed 265 random full and part-time working adults ages
    18 and older living in the United States and currently working in an
    office cubicle.  The survey was conducted during a 10-day period
    starting June 8, 2007 by KRC Research. The margin of error is +/-6
    percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

Source: Fellowes, Inc.

Web site:
http://www.fellowes.com/cube
http://www.officemax.com/
http://www.officedepot.com/