If the company issues physical shares to the employee as they vest monthly, that is 12 physical shares per employee per year. If for instance, there are an aver

If the company issues physical shares to the employee as they vest monthly, that is 12 physical shares per employee per year. If for instance, there are an average of 10 employees over 4 years that is 480 pieces of paper that will need to be tracked down at some point in time. When the shares are needed, if even one of those people are missing and cannot be found, it adds a pain factor to the process. The physical shares need to be consolidated and accounted for at some point in time. Not everyone leads a stable life where they can be located at all times. For the employee to physically hold the actual physical share in his or her hand is of no greater benefit than holding a photocopy of the shares along with the vesting agreement and any canceled checks used to pay for the shares. Physical shares can be forged just as easily as a photocopy if it were to go before a judge. It is like having 1 dozen green apples, vs. 1 dozen red apples in your hand. The difference being it is a lot safer for everyone to keep all of the shares in one place.