Weekly Wrap Up: Mobile Workforce Report

Friday, August 26th, 2011 Karen Ambrose Hickey, Editor

Here’s a wrap-up of some of the articles on this week’s release of the Mobile Workforce Report.

How Does Regus Downgrade Impact Business Center Industry?
Officing Today
With the large number of mobile workers, business centers could cater better to them with offerings of virtual office space.

Working mobile? You’re working more, a study shows
by Jim O’Neill, FierceEnterpriseCommunications
“Mobile workers apparently are heavily caffeinated–84 percent of them said they worked from a coffee shop–and are likely more tan than their office colleagues, since 77 percent said they work outside using a city-mesh Wi-Fi at least on an occasional basis.” (And they don’t get any of the office birthday cake, however they are more balanced.)

Mobile Workers Put In Longer Hours and Like It [Infographic]
by Scott M. Fulton, III, ReadWriteWeb
In other words, being more productive during the longer work day, including the commutes, gives workers the freedom to pursue the other things that matter in their lives. Or at least the feeling of being able to do so.

Workers are Willing to Move Jobs for Flexible Hours
by Adrian Gaskell, Technorati
“Earlier this week research revealed that commuting to work each day stresses out women far more than man. The stress of commuting has been likened to that of flying a fighter aircraft, so it’s perhaps not surprising that employees value flexible working quite as much as they do.”

Barbara Nelson, CTO of iPass was quoted, including,..”Employee turnover is a significant expense for any company. The cost to rehire a third of your workforce would clearly cause most companies to fail. This is an important finding that enterprises should consider when making their strategic mobility decisions.”

One third of employees willing to change employer for flexible working arrangements
by Jenny Williams , ComputerWeekly
The article discusses the report along with recommendations for IT departments in supporting mobile working.