Segmenting the Mobile Workforce

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated the average employee workday at 8.8 hours in 2008. The Quarterly iPass Mobile Workforce Report found the average workday for mobile workers was one hour longer, closer to 10 hours a day. Using the new average workday as the starting point, data was grouped, and mobile employees were segmented into three categories:

• Mobile Masters (34 percent of respondents) worked 55 hours or more a week. They telecommuted more frequently than the other segments (62 percent telecommuted at least one day a week). They saw no productivity costs from mobile technology, but for 13 percent they did see a negative impact on their work/life balance.
• Mobile Majority (47 percent of respondents) represent the mobile population at large. They worked 45 to 55 hours a week; in line with modern workday averages.
• Mobile Minority (18 percent of respondents) worked 40 or fewer hours a week, are most likely to go into the office every day, and less likely to telecommute. In fact, 19 percent did not telecommute at all. For this group, mobile technology does provide productivity gains. It also enables personal freedom. Almost half saw mobile technology as enabling more work/life balance, although 23 percent admitted to not checking their smartphone during downtime.

Figure 1. How many hours a week do you typically work?

The report also identified two additional segments of mobile employees:

• Mobile Maniacs (6 percent of respondents) are those that admitted they check their smartphones obsessively during downtime. Fifty-four percent of mobile maniacs worked more than 60 hours a week. 23 percent saw a negative impact on their work/life balance due to mobile technology.
• Mobile Minimalists (12 percent of respondents) are those that admitted that they did not check their smartphones during downtime. Thirty-seven percent of mobile minimalists worked 40 hours a week or fewer. 40 percent of mobile minimalists saw a positive impact on their work/life balance due to the use of mobile technology.

Mobile maniacs (30 percent) and mobile masters (25 percent) were also more likely to see social media as positively contributing to workplace productivity.