Vast majority of the city’s companies are still addicted to paper, new research shows
A shocking 97 percent of London’s businesses still rely on paper documents, a new study has found – even higher than the UK average of 92 percent.
With 60 percent of London workers calling this reliance on paper “ridiculous” and a further 55 percent stating that the volume of paper used in their workplace is “unnecessary”, it’s clear that there is a disconnect between the country’s dependency on paper records and worker preferences.
Conducted by technology company, Hyland, the research of 1,000 full-time UK workers also reflects growing concerns about the environmental impact of excessive paper usage.
The city’s unnecessary paper usage is also playing on the minds of workers, with 53 percent of Londoners saying they feel guilty about using paper at work.
To address this, three-quarters (75 percent) want the companies they work for to adopt a more environmentally-conscious approach to paper usage.
A further 72 percent went so far as to say that they’d like their business to offset its paper usage by planting trees.
When it comes to a solution to this issue, the responses largely indicate a desire to go digital.
Two-thirds (66 percent) want their office to be entirely paperless, while 81 percent of respondents believe that shifting to a digital document management system would significantly improve the sustainability efforts at their organisation.
However, existing document management systems are not proving popular, as highlighted by the 68 percent who find their current systems at their workplace unsatisfactory. This indicates that outdated tech might be perpetuating the persistent paper problem.
Tim Hood, VP for EMEA & APAC at Hyland, stressed the need for change, saying: “The majority of British workers agree that the volume of paper usage in this country is unreasonable.
“The demand to change things is high, driven by a conscientious desire to operate more sustainably – there are genuine moral grounds to consider technological solutions to the UK’s paper problem.”
Featured Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash.