Handwriting at work under threat, study finds

More than a third of UK recruitment professionals believe that handwriting at work will be extinct for future generations.

Job site CV-Library asked more than 2,000 of its candidates for their opinion on the subject, and with 62.8 per cent believing that future generations won’t write on the job, which would eliminate handwriting from future workplaces.

The findings reflect the digital times in which we are living; the National Handwriting Association recently reported that one in ten children don’t own a pen, yet nine out of ten own a tablet or a smartphone.

However, there are signs pen and paper are still valued in the workplace, with 73.3 per cent of UK professionals preferring a handwritten to-do list over an electronic one.

More than half (55.9 per cent) feel that handwriting is important in the workplace for signing contracts, 98.5 per cent of professionals still use pens in the workplace, and 88.2 per cent of businesses still provide staff with pens and paper.

Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, says that while these aren’t changes that we should expect to see in the near future, it is interesting to see how recruiters across the nation feel about technology and the impact it has on the traditional working environment.

‘There is no escaping the fact that the way we work is constantly evolving, and technology is very much at the forefront; while it has brought about some massive benefits, it also comes at the expense of handwriting, which is simply no longer as important in the workplace as it once was,’ he says.

The news comes just days following National Handwriting Day which was established to recognise the value of sending a handwritten note and demonstrating personal expression.

With many companies now encouraging staff to BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) to work, Biggins adds that it looks as though touch screens and keyboards are primed to take over.

Ben Lobel

Ben Lobel

Ben Lobel was the editor of SmallBusiness.co.uk from 2010 to 2018. He specialises in writing for start-up and scale-up companies in the areas of finance, marketing and HR.

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