InfoTrends Survey: 40 Percent Says Less than 25 Percent of their Business Content Remains on Paper

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InfoTrends recently released key findings from its recently conducted “The Future of Office Printing” primary-research study. The Web-based survey consisted of 750 general office workers from the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, and Spain, and investigated the market for printing in the office.

According to the firm, “for most office workers, print is an important tool in general working lives.”

 Some of the key findings from the survey include:

  • Almost 40 percent of respondents say less than one-quarter of their business content remains on paper.
  • Required printing “is fairly consistently 60 percent of people’s print volume, regardless of age and company size, and 40 percent of print is optional.”
  • Young workers (18-29 years old) do not show the dramatic decline in printing that is often associated with this age group.
  • Traditional office environments (company headquarters, branch offices) are still generating the highest print volumes.
  • Two-thirds of respondents said their company has taken steps to remove, simplify, or automate document-related business processes.
  • On average, survey respondents spend 36 minutes retrieving digital documents, versus 20 minutes for paper documents.

Our Take

Among the interesting findings from this survey, is that, while it’s long been argued that digital documents are easier and faster to retrieve than paper documents, the survey findings indicate the opposite. That is, respondents said it took them on average 36 minutes to retrieve digital documents, versus 20 minutes to retrieve paper documents. Additionally, while it’s long been argued that the younger “digital generation” prefers digital documents, the survey indicates that printing is just as prevalent among younger workers versus older workers.

For more information on the survey, visit InfoTrends here.

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