The rise of word processors, workflow software and the cloud propelled the adoption of paperless offices. Decades later, however, entire sectors still struggle to let go of paper and printers.

The pandemic gave paperless plans a boost, accelerating the gradual phaseout of physical printers in favor of digital tools.

Enrique Lores, CEO of HP, told investors in May that the number of pages printed dropped by 20% since the beginning of the pandemic, a development he attributed to hybrid work.

Shipments of hard copy peripherals, a category of devices that includes printers and copiers, dropped 12.8% between 2019 and 2023, according to IDC.

Remote and hybrid work made offices less reliant on paper, thanks to email, digital file sharing and an eventual transition to the cloud, said Kathleen Wirth, vice president at Wirth Consulting, a research firm.

During the Great Recession, reducing printing was one of the first steps companies took to keep costs in check, said Wirth. “Since then, the page volumes have been gradually declining.” 

The pandemic, Wirth said, also pushed more employees to rely on cloud-based, digital workflow systems that took away the rationale to print everything.

Still, some industries have stopped short of going fully paperless, relying on physical copies to meet legal requirements or customer expectations. Some employees still prefer to print hard copies. These factors have stood in the way of a full phaseout of office printers.

Healthcare's printer dependency  

The healthcare sector is among the most printer-reliant industries, alongside financial services, education and government, said Geoffrey Wilbur, research manager for imaging, printing and document solutions at IDC. 

Legacy processes and client service standards mean printers are still a mainstay in the healthcare industry, practitioners say.

Renton, Washington-based health system Providence has worked on reducing print output in recent years, CTO Wasif Jamal said. Between 2022 and 2026, the health system aims to reduce the number of printers by 40% as it cut costs and shrinks Providence’s carbon footprint, he said. The hospital system has centralized printer contracts as a way to reduce costs.

The manual nature of the healthcare profession, however, means hospitals still generate a large amount of printed paper. For example, after patients are discharged, hospitals provide printed visit summaries, and correspondence with insurance companies regarding claims requires paper documentation, he said.

Insurance companies also prefer paper documentation for claim processing, which can include information on the type of treatment and insurance code.

“We see millions of patients across the system on an annual basis, so that becomes a major print outlet,” said Jamal, who noted that the hospital needs to provide documentation to all types of patients — including those from underserved communities who may not have access to digital tools.

The health system hopes to make more progress by reducing printing for non-clinical uses, including instances where practitioners choose to print paper copies of documents.

“You’re talking about changing human behavior,” he said. “A lot of those human behaviors are just driving a sense of security to say ‘I printed something and I have it,’” when they can digitally consolidate documents as PDFs without printing, or upload them to document-sharing platforms like SharePoint. 

The health system is currently looking at print system analytics to better understand which applications drive most of the print volume. Secure printing, where users tap their card to initiate print processes, has helped reduce printer output, according to Jamal. Providence is also exploring the possibility of automating processes, including the ability to consolidate documents to PDF format. 

Policy requirements and force of habit

Fintech firms often boast about their capabilities to carry out transactions digitally, but digital signatures won’t cut it in some cases.

Amir Har-El, chief operating officer at tech-enabled wealth management firm Savvy Wealth, said two situations typically prompt printing. Some older clients prefer to review and sign physical documents; and third-party custodians, annuity providers and insurance companies may require signatures on paper — or so-called wet signature — for certain documents.

Since printing isn’t all that common, the company’s New York office, which serves around 20 employees and 1,000 clients, holds onto one printer with limited features. He’s nonetheless optimistic that a day will come when printers won’t be required for office operations.

“Absolutely, I think that's a certainty at this point," Har-El said. "In our lifetime, there will be a world where offices do not need printers at all."

Corporate law departments are grappling with a dependence on paper, too. 

Brad Blickstein, principal at law department consultancy the Blickstein Group, told CIO Dive certain courts and government agencies require paper filings, which means legal departments still depend on printers, although there are less of them than there once were.

“The legal function has been rapidly digitizing, but not quite as rapidly as many other industries,” with a shift toward scanning of printed documents, often with direct connections to electronic document management systems. “A bigger issue is that some [lawyers] still prefer to work on paper."

The printer industry’s response

Companies that produce physical printers, along with print consumables such as toner and drum units, say they’re evolving their business models to embrace an enterprise shift to digital workflows.

HP, for example, said it envisions an ongoing role helping customers redesign their workspaces and document workflows across physical and digital channels. It’s also leaning into industries’ digital transitions, including healthcare, where providers are working to digitize patient records.

“Almost every IT customer I talk to today is thinking about redesigning their workspaces,” said Aurelio Maruggi, division president of HP Office Print Solutions. “This is a huge opportunity to help our customers redesign their document workflows with the right combination of devices, software and services.” 

Xerox, offering a similar perspective, suggests a role in empowering organizations to “bridge the physical and digital worlds,” according to Terry Antinora, the company’s head of product and engineering.

Ricoh, which also sees a role assisting clients with document workflows, says a key opportunity for the printing industry is production printing, which it expects to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4% from 2023 to 2028, according to Scott Dabice, vice president of commercial strategy and operations at Ricoh USA.

The printer industry is not declining as fast as previously predicted, according to Wilbur. 

"Print processes are still embedded in the workplace," Wilbur said. “Some mission-critical processes still rely on print. It's a mature, slowly declining industry.”