The word "office" has its origins in Latin and refers not only to the place of work but also to the duties and obligations of a position. While offices were originally created during the Industrial Revolution, the modern office is changing due to trends like increased globalization, virtual work environments, and an emphasis on the well-being and inclusion of employees. Looking to the future, the office may blend real and virtual elements and focus more on effective collaboration and sustainable design that supports worker health.

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1. THE WORD “OFFICE” IN SOME EUROPEAN LANGUAGES: A
BRIEF OVERVIEW…
1.1. UFFICIO (Italian)
- the current Italian term “Ufficio” derives from the Latin word “Officium” which means Duty /
Obligation (from “Ob” = before, and “Ficium” from “Ficere / Facere” = to do), thus generally
meaning what is expected from someone to do (for obligation or convenience) in civil
relations. See for instance one of Cicero’s famous masterpieces named… “De Officiis”;
- “Ufficio” means also Assignment, Task, Function. In legal language is eg the Counsel
appointed by the Court in order to defend an accused person unable to pay a trusted lawyer;
- at “bureau-cratic” level Ufficio instead refers to whole Staff of a structure (for example,
Government offices, the Post Office or a Department inside any company);
- in religion means also the rite or the function itself (eg the mass).
> Close to “Ufficio” there’s another important Latin word, “OFFICINA”, meaning
“laboratory/workshop” or Factory, which derives from “Opyfex” = Craftsman / Author of something
materially done (a compound of “Opus” = Work + “Fex” from “Facere” = to do/make). This term is still
used today to indicate the workshop, the factory, or, more generally, "the office" in which general
mechanical work is made and / or more generally the WORKERS / blue collars team.
Summary
The meaning of "office", as well as the one of "being
at the office", today is rapidly changing especially due
to consistent technological innovation.
In the following pages you will find out that:
- the word "office" (which derives from Latin “Officio”)
however is not only referred to the common “building”
where we usually work, but also to the duty we have
to cope with while… “being at the office”…
More: the French word “Bureau” means even an
antique office furniture: the desk(top)!
- the actual global trends have forced MNCs to bring
into the office not only common HSE & facility
management standards (related to the “spatial
dimension” of premises) but also new people-
oriented / well-being scenarios (the so called
“personal dimension” of the office);
- future technology will help us staying IN the office
but without (still) replacing us “humans”.
That’s why, as someone already quoted, the office is
for the man and not the man for the office…
The word “office” does not only
mean the place where we usually
work!
THERE’S MUCH MORE BEHIND…
Are you @ the office?

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1.2. OFFICE (English)
Also in English “Office” basically means the location, place or building in which business, clerical or
professional activities are conducted.
Other common meanings are:
- a duty or function assigned to or assumed by someone;
- the administrative personnel, executives, or staff working in such a place;
- a position of authority, duty, or trust given to a person, as in a government or corporation: eg, the
office of vice president;
- a major executive division of a government: the British Home Office;
- (often plural) the building or buildings in which the work of an organization such as a business or
government department is carried out;
- (usually plural) euphemistic word for lavatory (especially in the phrase usual offices)
- the company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose place of business is in an office.
1.3. BUREAU (French)
“Bureau” comes from the old French “Burel” or “Bure” word (derived from the Latin “Burellum”)
which indicated in Middle Ages the tablecloth that - leaned on “business tables” – was used (like a
modern Excel file…) for currency exchange or in order to count money/coins (hence the term
"bureau ouvert à payer"). Often in these tablecloths were designed chessboards in order to better
help money & goods calculations!
That kind of tablecloth was also used in England and named “Exchequer”, thus identifying a
public function responsible for the treasury management and collection of taxes.
The name of “Échiquier” (originated in the Duchy of Normandy) is derived instead from:
- the fact that the first Exchequer of Normandy was being held in a room where the floor was
composed of blocks of stone squares alternating black and white, as the tables suspended or
checkerboard used to play chess;
- the table used to perform calculations for taxes and other goods accounts was made in a
“portable” carpet coloured in black and white (thus helping people to position the different coins
with legal tender in the Duchy). A few years after the Norman Conquest of England the “Échiquier”
(whose name will be translated into Exchequer in English) was transposed in England.
During the fifteenth century the term “Bureau” became a common
synonymous for table / desk on which administrative or intellectual work
was performed.
Therefore, defined as a desk or office furniture, among the most
famous "Bureaux" we can include:
- the “Bureau Mazarin” also called “cabinet Mazarin” since used by
Cardinal Mazzarino (Minister of Luis XVI from 1642 to 1661);
- the “table bureau” which was made during Luis XIII and also
called “table à écrire” or “bureau à plat”
- the “cabinet” which incorporates (as an evolution) the structure of
the “table à écrire” but with in the back a sort of narrow
scaffolding and several drawers and shelves for books and other
documentation. Later on this term turned out to mean the room
where the King and his own Ministers were privately meeting and,
lastly, a decisional body;
- the “secrétaire” (from which derives the word “Secretary”) instead
was a bigger “bureau” made in XVIII century in order to better
write and file secret (“sécret”) paper documents (also Napoleon
had a special one in Fontainebleau!).

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1.4. Das Büro (GERMAN)
In German the word “Büro” (from the French “Bureau”) is mainly referred to the working space (also
the room) or in same cases even to an authority or a body.
On the other hand, in order to indicate the Duty of someone (eg in ethics or in theological /
deontology frameworks), in German it is used the different word “Pflicht”:
- Pflicht (aus pflegen) oder Sollen ist das, was jemand aus moralischen Gründen tun muss. Daneben
wird als Pflicht auch das bezeichnet, was von einer als berechtigt angenommenen Autorität von
jemandem gefordert wird. In diesem Sinne ist zum Beispiel ein Polizist der Autorität des
Gesetzgebers verpflichtet.
- Aufgabe, die jemandem aus ethischen, moralischen, religiösen Gründen erwächst und deren
Erfüllung er sich einer inneren Notwendigkeit zufolge nicht entziehen kann oder die jemandem
obliegt, die als Anforderung von außen an ihn herantritt und für ihn verbindlich ist
- (Sport) bei einem Wettkampf vorgeschriebene Übung[en] (im Unterschied zur Kür)
The Position of someone (eg inside an organisation) is translated with the word “Funktion” or
“Dienst”. The latter especially refers to the activity of public officials (and other persons employed as
judges, soldiers etc.) and employees of public bodies, institutions or foundations.
1.5. OFICIO (Spanish)
Also in Spain the word “Office” means the office desk location and/or the Duty of someone.
Hereunder some more interesting meanings:
- ocupación que requiere esfuerzo físico o habilidad manual;
- conocimiento de una actividad laboral, función, servicio;
- objetivo de alguien o algo;
- ocupación habitual;
- una comunicación escrita que suele estar vinculada a los asuntos de las administraciones públicas
y que permite comunicar disposiciones, abrir consultas o llevar adelante distintas gestiones;
- il Que se realiza por orden de una autoridad;
- no tener oficio ni beneficio familiar. No tener trabajo ni dinero ni medios seguros para conseguirlo;
- ser del oficio familiar. Dedicarse a la prostitución;
- art. y Profesión de algún arte mecánica: oficio servil El mecánico o bajo, en oposición a las artes
liberales o nobles;
- formato de papel de 330x216mm;
- un tipo de documento que sirve para comunicar disposiciones, consultas, órdenes, informes: estas
redacciones se utilizan en instituciones como ministerios, embajadas, municipios, oficinas de
gobierno ecc.
DasBuropants
One of the most famous offices: the Oval
Office in Washington…

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2. THE OFFICE: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE TRENDS
IN THE PAST
The (old) office was created during the Industrial
Revolution together with the term “Factory”.
At that time the mass production process required hiring
of personnel often sitting at a desk for processing orders,
record or copy invoices & letters or other documents.
With the progress of the industry and especially in the
years after World War I the “office” started to be
organised in a Tayloristic / specialized approach, divided
by sectors and functions and also populated by female
staff. It was in these years that massive armies of
shorthand typists, accountants, telephone operators etc.
were often being gathered in big open spaces. The need
to control this huge multitude of employees was very
important: that’s why - in addition to the working class
and white collars – companies hired executives and
"managers" that were physically ranked and placed in the
office "above" the employees (thanks to platforms from
which they could more easily supervise their activities).
The general increase of white collars staff in the office
was also eased by technology that began to supply
companies with industrial made & low cost “office tools”:
let’s think eg to the typewriters, telephones, pneumatic
mail systems and/or to the use of elevators.
TODAY
…well, you know how it works, I suppose…
The modern "office" - thanks to increasing globalization –
is now borderless, always accessible and in some cases
even "home-office".
This has forced both companies and employees to face a
"new office dimension", no longer tied to space and / or
time but shaped around the demanding needs of modern
business.
This trend recently forced MNCs to manage therefore
also the “social-dimension” at the office: eg, by creating
(and managing) teams of peers made by people of
different nationalities. That's why in today's multinational
companies is very strong also the weight of cultural, race
and personal "inclusion” and management.
Apart from all social issues related to the allocation of people inside the office, the spatial dimension is
today an important and complicated issue to manage: just think about the tons of laws which are
required in order to cope with security, lighting and / or waste & pollution reduction…
And that's not all: other complexities usually arise in the technological equipment management.
Just think about the IT network cables, the servers, WI-FI signals and / or dislocations of different PC
and their access / maintenance…
That's why actually some companies offer in outsourcing the Facility Management and /or rented full-
furnished & turnkey offices to be used for the needed time and place, either alone or together with other
"colleagues". Sometimes this service might also include the office Staff (eg team assistants, data entry
employees etc)!

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IN THE FUTURE?
The idea of the "office of the future” was born in the 40’s being based on the dream of a
"paperless office".
Recent studies show that in few years we will have more electronic desks filled in with drag and
drop technology or with dynamic and interactive vertical spaces / windows (where you can
pop-up and view information). More: also computers capable of self-repair and smaller wireless
communication tools able to combine several functions in one tool.
This way in the future we might have more than one computer because the PC will be simply
hidden in our daily life tools (most probably shaped in sort of hybrid solutions).
In a nutshell: we will be working halfway
between "real" and "virtual" offices!
The office of the future will also:
- take more care of the health & welfare of employees
(the so called “personal dimension”);
- provide more effective environments for
communication, collaboration and exchange of ideas;
- be environmentally sustainable (eg by using
recycled materials) also in terms of design and
respect for local culture / arts.
That's why today some companies (especially in the
sector of information technology, see hereunder)
have designed hybrid workplaces, where employees
can live and work in a quiet, safe and healthy spaces
designed to bring together team collaboration.