New survey signals recovery in printing paper, with quality and carbon neutrality becoming more important
During 2020 and early 2021, the pandemic-driven shift to stay-at-home work, where people print less, brought a dip in demand for office paper. Now with workers heading back to the office, a new survey commissioned by Stora Enso indicates an expected recovery for office printing paper. “This is good news for the industry,” says Stora Enso’s Jonathan Bakewell, VP, Head of Segment Office and Book Papers, “but we also set out to ask some broader questions about printing behaviour and preferences and what going back to the office would really look like for people.” The survey, which was rolled out to 3,400 people across Sweden, UK, France, Netherlands, and Germany, showed that a return to the office is underway now, with 35% of respondents saying they have already returned and a further 51% expecting to return soon. But they will not be going back to the five-day week. The preferred mix (33%) was for three days at the office and two days at home, while 14% aren’t planning to return to the office at all.