You can play an interview safe. Or you can use it to make a point. Götz Stamm clearly opts for the latter in a recent supplement of Handelsblatt—and draws a clear line from the start: the office is no longer a place you go to because you have to. It’s a place that has to give you reasons to come. That’s where Stamm starts. And that’s where the market begins.

The term “workplace” barely appears anymore. Instead, Stamm talks about a “space of possibilities.” Sounds like a buzzword at first. But it quickly becomes tangible. Culture, identity, collaboration—none of which can be enforced via calendar invite. And this is where the provocation comes in: anyone ordering employees back to the office hasn’t solved the problem, just shifted it. The office has to convince. Otherwise, it stays empty.

That Wilkhahn supports this line of thinking is hardly surprising. Ergonomics, movement, activation—the familiar themes are all there. What’s new is the tone. Stamm argues less with conviction, more with numbers. Health as a productivity factor. Ergonomics as a lever for profitability. In short: a good chair pays off. This is no longer design romanticism, but a sober management thesis. And, unsurprisingly, one that aligns neatly with the company’s own portfolio.

On hybrid work, the message is just as clear. Stamm implicitly describes the reality in many companies as patchwork: a video call here, a meeting room there, plenty of friction in between. The response is not particularly surprising, but consistently thought through: integration. Furniture and technology need to work as one, media breaks should disappear. Programs like “Confair Next” stand as examples. Or put differently: if hybrid meetings still feel like a compromise, the setup is wrong—and that’s exactly where the market for solutions begins.