Covid 19 sent office workers home by the millions to “office remotely” as they escaped the perils of the pandemic. The longer people work from home, the more certain that fewer and fewer will ever return to a normal office setting. In fact, some early-adaptor companies are already giving up the idea of operating out of offices completely. For example, Seattle-based REI is selling its brand new headquarter offices even before occupying them. Most companies are planning on at least a part of their workforce never returning to the office and some returning, but only on a part-time basis.
Companies in finance, education, and health – to name a few categories are only now beginning to deal with what “remote officing” means for their compliance responsibilities under FSMA (Gramm-Leach-Bliley), FACTA, HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, etc. None of these laws are suspended, while violating privacy rights, exposing confidential information to competitors, and data breaches are becoming exponentially more expensive. Plus stiff fines add additional risk.
Pre-Covid estimates of 5 to 6 million office buildings exist across the United States. Sixty to 70 million people are in the professional workforce. It’s anybody’s guess how explosive the number of post-Covid locations will become that require shredding service but just 500 percent growth would be 25 million new locations. Understandably life-threatening issues take precedence in the short run, but very soon people will begin dealing with the security implications of this massive shift. “The shredding industry will reap a windfall…but only for those companies that are willing to change their strategic game plan.”
The early winds are already beginning to be felt. For several months now Shred Nations has referred vastly increasing numbers of residential customers to its partners. Far more growth is expected due to the projected increase in the number of remote offices and their need for compliance and improved risk management. Shred Nations also has noticed a diminished number of large purges. We think this is also a part of the changing landscape the shredding industry must learn to accommodate.
Shred Nations’ shredding partners can expect:
- Receiving higher and higher volumes of residential shredding opportunities.
- Less price sensitivity since people are more willing to spend their company’s money than their own.
- Fewer large purge.
- Opportunities to convert single shredding transactions into company-wide programs.
It is hard to believe that industry giants will ignore this massive industry opportunity, but they would need to change their minimum charges that are rumored to be as high as $250. Certainly, it’s an ideal opportunity for independent shredding companies and the Shred Nations partner network which can react quickly and is known to be highly responsive to customer needs.
Want to learn more about pre-sold customers or residential customers, please call Kelly Kobilan at (303) 962-5576