Steelcase Research Finds Leaders' Priorities Shift

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Oct. 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- To help organizations achieve their sustainability and social responsibility goals, Steelcase, a global design and thought leader in the world of work, today publishes new research that found global business leaders' priorities for people and the planet are growing. The company also releases its 2023 Impact Report: Our Work Toward Better Futures and announces the expansion of its sustainable product portfolio.

Recent Steelcase research, conducted in 11 countries and published in its new issue of Work Better magazine, shows employee wellbeing, sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion ranked as business leader's top workplace issues for the next year. While these topics have consistently ranked important to business leaders, this recent body of research shares the sense of urgency leaders feel around these topics.

2023 Impact Report
To help organizations address these issues and meet their own goals, the Work Better Magazine includes the 2023 Steelcase Impact Report, Our Work Toward Better Futures. The report details the company’s progress and leadership on bold goals to create better futures for people and the planet.

Three significant areas of impact drive the company’s actions toward creating community and belonging for people – at work and in the world:

• Help Communities Thrive. The company’s Better Futures Community collaborated with 169 partner organizations on more than 278 community projects.
• Foster Inclusion. Significant progress was made on the company's aspirational goals of building diverse teams, ensuring equitable access to opportunity, and creating a culture of inclusion.
• Act With Integrity. The company’s high standards and clarity around core values enable employees to make values-based decisions.
  

As designers and makers, the company is acutely aware that its work has an impact on the planet. Steelcase takes critical, science-based actions across the entire enterprise to reduce its role in climate change.

Three significant areas of impact guide the organization:

• Reduce Our Carbon Footprint. Steelcase works toward the most ambitious climate goals in the industry. This year it once again maintained carbon neutrality for its own operations, made progress toward reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 and gained ground in supplier engagement toward its goal to have 80% of suppliers by emissions set their own science-based targets by 2025.
• Design for Circularity. In its quest to phase out single-use plastics and add more recycled content to packaging, Steelcase eliminated 73,000 pounds of Styrofoam per year from its Verb® product packaging, while eliminating plastic wrap and shrinking the package size in its Steelcase Series® 1 Chair.
• Choose + Use Materials Responsibly. Once again, the company maintained the most BIFMA LEVEL® 3 products in its industry, a rigorous sustainability standard, while also listing hundreds of products on online databases Origin and Ecomedes.
  

“We fundamentally believe organizations can have a bigger impact if we collectively take action,” said Kim Dabbs, Steelcase vice president of ESG and social innovation. “Our 2023 Impact Report represents all the hard work being done by people throughout our organization to achieve a broad range of challenging goals. For us, ‘better’ is a spirit of what we can make possible for the benefit of everyone. It’s a commitment to generously participate in the world, to help build a more sustainable, inclusive and equitable global society.”

“While we are very proud to share our industry-leading accomplishments, we know there is more work to be done. We use reporting as a tool for transparent action as we take another step forward.”

The 2023 Impact Report and Work Better magazine are available at Steelcase.com/People-Planet and Steelcase.com/Work-Better-Magazine respectively. The Work Better magazine is complemented by the Work Better podcast and Work Better digital platform.

Products for a Better Planet
As businesses set their own sustainability goals, they must consider the environmental impact of the things they buy, including the furniture in their workplaces. To help customers reduce the impact of their purchases, Steelcase announced today it is expanding its Carbon Neutral® portfolio to include popular height-adjustable desks Migration® SE and Ology®.

When organizations purchase Steelcase® solutions with CarbonNeutral® product certification, they offset any carbon emissions not eliminated during the full life cycle, including sourcing, manufacturing, delivery and end of use. Steelcase works with Climate Impact Partners, a global organization delivering high-quality climate solutions, to identify high-impact, verified, environmentally sustainable projects.

“Creating a workplace that’s better for the planet hasn’t always been easy, but we’re working toward meeting and exceeding the increased demand for transparency and accountability,” said Mary Ellen Mika, director of sustainability for Steelcase. “As a leader in the world of work, we help create places that impact the experiences of millions of people every day, which is why it's our responsibility to recognize our impact and make changes for the communities we serve and the planet we share.”

The CarbonNeutral® portfolio is now available alongside dozens of sustainable products created by Steelcase and its community of brands in one place to give designers more choices in diverse product categories and make product sourcing as easy as possible so anyone can feel confident in selecting solutions that do better for the world we all share. More information is available at Steelcase.com/Sustainable-Products.

About Steelcase
Established in 1912, Steelcase is a global design and thought leader in the world of work. We help people do their best work by creating places that work better. Along with more than 35 creative and technology partner brands, we design and manufacture innovative furnishings and solutions for the many places where work happens — including learning, health and work from home. Our solutions come to life through our community of expert Steelcase dealers in approximately 770 locations, as well as our online Steelcase store and other retail partners. Founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Steelcase is a publicly traded company with fiscal year 2023 revenue of $3.2 billion. With our 12,000 global employees and dealer community, we come together for people and the planet — using our business to help the world work better.

Contact: Chiara Licari
Steelcase, 616.406.6494
clicari@steelcase.com