In this weekly snapshot, we survey end users to get insight into their habits and sentiments regarding printing, copying and how they use workflow solutions. Designed to bring a new level of real-time insights that long-term studies just can’t, these snapshots provide food for thought to help navigate today’s fast-changing market trends and prepare strategies for the longer term.
- End User Snapshot: How Important is Printing to End Users, Anyway?In an early survey, more than three-quarters of respondents said using a printer or copier is important to their job. We asked another group of end users to rank on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the least important, how important it is having a device that can print or copy to get their work done. The overall average ranking was a 3.4 with 49% selecting a 4 or 5
- End User Snapshot 21: How Companies Provided WFH HardwareWhen it comes to computers, laptops and the accompanying accessories like monitors, keyboards and mice, more than 70% of survey respondents said their company provided that equipment in some way. Three quarters of those folks said the company directly supplied that equipment but 25% said they obtained the equipment on their own and were reimbursed by the company. About 17% said they acquired the equipment on their own but were NOT reimbursed. Thirty-eight
- End User Snapshot 20: What Size Companies Expect Employees Back in the Office?As companies begin to reopen from the pandemic, only about a third of employees expect their companies to have all employees come back into the office, with almost 60% telling us they expect to continue to work from home in some fashion. But almost half of owners and CEOs are expecting all employees back in the office, with only 43% expecting to allow a hybrid approach — employees working some days in the
- End User Snapshot 20: Owner and CEO Attitudes Toward WFH
We got interesting responses from owners and CEOs to the question “What is your employer’s attitude toward letting you continue to work from home once all employees can safely return to the office?” 46% of owners and CEOs say they expect all employees to return to the office. This is significantly different from the 33% of middle management and general staff who expect to be back full-time in the office. 43% said they - End User Snapshot 19: Employers’ Attitudes on WFHWe asked, “What is your employer’s attitude toward letting you continue to work from home once all employees can safely return to the office?” Almost 60% of survey takers said their employer is expecting some form of hybrid office approach with employees working some days at home and others in the office. A third said their employers are expecting ALL employees to come back and work in the office. Two percent said their
- End User Snapshot 18: What is the Main Reason You Print?We’ve been looking at WHY end users print documents, and this week suggests some interesting differences exist depending upon the position level of the end user in their organization. A need to sign a document or get another’s signature on the document was the main reason 58% of users in general staff positions gave for printing a document. 63% of top leadership positions gave that as their main reason as well. Only 41%
- End User Snapshot 17: Why Do Digital Natives Print?About three-quarters of millennials and Gen Z end users told us that using a printer or copier is important to their job. But WHY do these “digital natives” print? More than half of millennials told us they print because they need to sign the document or get someone else’s signature on that document. Less than half of Gen Z respondents said that. Fewer Gen Z respondents than millennials said the reason they print
- End User Snapshot 16: Why Do Users Print?Last week we covered WHAT end users print. This week we look at WHY they print a document. Just over half of them said they print documents to either sign or get another’s signature on the document. 40% said they print and then file the document with the same percentage saying they print to fill out forms. Just under that amount print documents to reference them in meetings and 34% print out a document to
- End User Snapshot 15: What Types of Documents Do Users Print?In our very first end user snapshot, we found more than three quarters of end users said using a printer or copier was somewhat to very important to their job. But what do they print when they use a printer or MFP? 73% of them said they print forms of some kind, one-third said they print emails, 30% told us they print out invoices or bills and 29% said they print presentations and business
- End User Snapshot 13: Which Positions Use Mobile Print?“How often do you use a mobile print application to print documents from your mobile phone or tablet?” The majority of owners and C-level execs said they print from their mobile device at least once a week. None said they did that at least once a day. Middle management – managers and directors – were evenly split between telling us they used a mobile print application at least once a week, once a month
- End User Snapshot 12: Mobile Print by GenerationToday we’re looking at how millennials and Gen Z survey takers answered the question: “How often do you use a mobile print application to print documents from your mobile phone or tablet?” These two generations make up more than 40% of U.S. workers and in the next three to five years will be the majority of the workforce. 28% of the youngest workers – Gen Z – said they print from mobile devices at
- End User Snapshot 11: How Often Do You Print From a Mobile Device?This week we explore how end users responded to our question of “How often do you use a mobile print application to print documents from your mobile phone or tablet?” 31% said they print from their phone or tablet at least once a week and 9% responded they did that once a day. Just under a quarter of end users that responded told us they print from their mobile device at least once
- End User Snapshot 10: Most Used MFD FunctionOn a scale of 1 to 4, with, 4 being the function they used the most on an MFD, end users said they use the scan function the most, followed by the fax function. Print and copy came in at the third and fourth spots, with less than half of users selecting those functions as most important. In fact, 40% of users said the MFD functions they use the least were print and
- End User Snapshot 9: What Size Companies Are Reducing Print?We asked office technology end users, “Over the last year have you made a conscious decision to reduce the amount you print for work?” Did the size of company the user works for makes a difference to the answer they gave? The highest percentage who said they were consciously reducing their print came from companies between 250 to 1,000 employees — SMBs. The very small companies – those with less than 250 employees – and
- End User Snapshot 8: What Positions are Reducing Print?When asked whether they were consciously reducing their printing, about two-thirds of high-level management – owners and C-level execs and their staffs – and middle management directors and managers said they were, while just under half of general staff users said they were. 67% of owners and CEOs said they were doing less or the same, 57% of middle management said that, and 52% of general staff answered that way. The higher percentage
- End User Snapshot 7: Are You Consciously Reducing Print?After working or collaborating on a document, are users taking time to think about whether to print it or not? We found that almost 60% of users surveyed said they are making conscious decisions to reduce the amount they print. Now, those decisions may be driven by their company’s focus on reducing print cost – imaging channel resellers told us in our annual Imaging Channel Market Trends survey that reducing print costs was
- End User Snapshot 6: Which Positions Print While Working From Home?Did a user’s position in a company affect whether they did more, less, or the same amount of printing and copying while working at home as they did in the office? Some good news is that more than 50% of each position level either increased or kept their printing and copying the same – it would be better news if those habits remain as workers get back into their offices. The NEVER use
- End User Snapshot 5: Which Age Groups Print More?We asked workers how their printing and copying habits changed due to being forced to work from home over the last year, and then examined whether that answer changed depending on respondents’ ages. 70% of millennials said they printed or copied more, or at least the same amount at home during the pandemic than when in the office. That’s higher than either Generation Z, which is the generation behind them, or the 45-and-up
- End User Snapshot 4: How Did the Pandemic Affect Printing?How has working from home during the coronavirus pandemic affected your printing and copying habits? We asked workers how their printing and copying habits changed due to being forced to work from home over the last year. The results were nearly tied – only 14% said they don’t print at all. What opportunities does this offer to dealers?
- End User Snapshot 3: Which Verticals Need to Print?Is print and copying more important to certain vertical market groups than others? 90% of users in both K-12 and higher education vertical markets said print and copying were important to their jobs, and 92% of those in the healthcare vertical said so. The next closest vertical market was financial and banking, where 77% of users said print and copying was important, followed by government and retail/wholesale verticals, both of which had 60%
- End User Snapshot 2: Who Does the Printing?How important or unimportant to your job is using a printer or copier — by role? 76% of all respondents said using a printer or copier was important to their job, but are there differences based upon the position a person holds in a company? Just under 60% of those identifying themselves as owners, C-level executives or executive staff said copying and printing was important to their job. General staff saying so was
- End User Snapshot 1: Print is Still ImportantHow important or unimportant to your job is using a printer or copier to print or copy documents? Almost half (48%) of respondents said using a printer or copier was very important to their job while 28% said it was somewhat important. Only 8% said using a printer or copier was not important at all. The other 16% said it was neither important or unimportant (13%) or somewhat unimportant (3%). More than three-quarters
