Paper is here to stay despite increasing workplace digitization

JEDDAH — More than 35 years have passed since British-American information scientist, Frederick Wilfrid, first envisioned a ‘paperless office’ in 1978. Today, the reality is that printers continue to be used daily and, according to an independent survey of over 3,600 European employees commissioned by Epson Europe, 77% of respondents stated that printers were vital in terms of helping them work more productively with an overwhelming majority (83%) felt a “paperless office is unrealistic”. In fact, of the 4% that said they didn’t have a printer in their office, half of them were intending to get one. “It is clear from our research that – despite digital advances – people still like to work with paper, preferring print rather than working on-screen for certain tasks,” said Rob Clark, Senior Vice President of Epson Europe. Khalil El-Dalu, General Manager, Epson Middle East, gives it a Middle East perspective.  “We have experienced strong growth for our printer segment in the region which shows that printers are favored by organizations and they are here to stay. Instead of cutting down on printing, companies are instead adopting printers, like our ITS range, that help to reduce the cost of printing.” The research found that 88% of respondents said they printed an average of 21 items per day with the most popular printed items being reports closely followed by email attachments and emails themselves. Clark added: “The reality is organizations need printing to not only help employees work more effectively but reap wider productivity and environmental benefits too. With inkjet printing for example, organizations can achieve up to twice as many prints while producing 95% less waste and with much lower energy consumption compared to similar sized laser printers and copiers.” Renowned global futurist Jack Uldrich added: “The paperless office hasn’t materialized for the same reason that microwave ovens didn’t replace all traditional ovens. Every technology has unique and tangible benefits, and paper is no different. Arguably, paper is the greatest instrument ever invented for conveying, sharing and disseminating information. In fact, recent scientific studies have demonstrated that people understand and retain information presented on paper at a far higher level than information presented electronically.” This may explain why 61% of survey respondents said that they believe “there is more chance of making errors when editing an electronic document than editing a print-out.” “New technologies are of course changing the way people work. At Epson, for example, we see this with our wearable and projector based technologies. But when it comes to reading, editing and sharing documents like reports, emails, and attachments, office workers, from baby boomers to millennials, still prefer the tangible printed version,” Clark noted.