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This quarter’s iPass Mobile Workforce Survey asked mobile employees if they stayed connected during vacation. The answer was a resounding yes. 94.1 percent reported that they stayed connected either always or occasionally during vacation.
Of those that stayed connected during vacation, 75.4 percent connected either primarily for work or equally for work and personal reasons. Only 5.8 percent connected for only personal reasons.
The survey also revealed that the majority of respondents (53.6 percent) never truly disconnected from technology. For the 46.4 percent of mobile employees that did disconnect from technology, their reasons for completely disconnecting were mostly situational (e.g., in a location with poor connectivity) rather than purposeful.
“Just fed up with technology and want to detox. Hey, it happens to us all!” systems engineer, consulting firm (US)
“Dec 2008, Hawaii cruise, personal choice and limited or no internet access,” vice president, customer experience, accounting firm (US)
“2 hours before bed while watching TV and sleeping,” vice president, technology company (US)
“On vacation, when there are no critical professional issues. My girlfriend complains every time when I connect to the corporate network on vacation,” employee, large manufacturer (Germany)
“Evening out with friends. Want to focus all my attention on friends and family. Would be rude not to do so.” –senior communications manager, consumer goods manufacturer (UK)
“I try to disconnect, but I can never do it completely unless I’ve forgotten my electronics, which has only ever happened once,” analyst, research institute (Canada)
“Too many responsibilities and issues to deal with 24/7,” IT manager, engineering firm (US)
“With a BlackBerry and internet it is too easy to stay connected,” manager, software company (Australia)
“I feel lost without my laptop and internet or at least my BlackBerry,” systems consultant, defense contractor (US)
“I get bored easily. It’s easier to entertain myself with email or RSS” web developer, university (US)
This quarter’s iPass survey asked mobile employees how many devices that they carried regularly for both work and personal reasons. The survey results revealed that 96.6 percent of mobile employees carried two or more mobile devices, with almost 50 percent carrying three or more devices.
The top device carried was a laptop, with most everyone who carried two or more devices carrying a laptop. The next most common devices were smartphones and cell phones. The survey did find some adoption of tablet PCs and iPads by the most gadget-equipped users. The survey also found that if an employee carried only one device, it was usually a cell phone or a smart phone (80 percent).
To arm this mobile workforce, the survey revealed that the majority (76 percent) of mobile employees had their mobile phone or smartphone bill either fully or partially subsidized by their employers. However, 15.3 percent of mobile employees paid everything out of pocket with no compensation from their employers.
The most interesting finding was related to the use of mobile devices. Across the board, employees were using them for both work and personal reasons. In terms of mobile phones/smartphones, there was overwhelming use of the devices for work purposes, with 94.4 percent of mobile employees citing work usage on their mobile phone/smartphone. Only 15.6 percent had a dedicated approach to their mobile phones/smartphones with 3 percent using them exclusively for personal and 5.5 percent using them exclusively for work.
The survey asked mobile employees which applications they used on their smartphones, and whether they used the applications for work or personal reasons. Again, the survey found that for most applications, mobile employees used them for both work and personal reasons. The biggest exception was social media, with 52 percent reporting that they didn’t use it on their smartphones.
The survey also asked mobile employees if they were adopting the iPad or tablet PCs. The vast majority (82.2 percent) did not currently have a tablet device. Only 9.3 percent of those surveyed had an iPad, and 6.8 percent had a tablet PC. An iPad is an “add-on” device. If respondents had an iPad, they were more likely to have a laptop and smartphone/cellphone (one or the other).
The survey then asked respondents if they planned to get an iPad or tablet PC in the next six months. Surprisingly 26.3 percent planned to get an iPad, and 6.9 percent planned to get a tablet PC. The survey also found that employees that paid their own mobile phone/smartphone bills were more likely to have or plan to buy an iPad.
The survey then asked how they planned to use the iPad or tablet PC. Of the 50.4 percent of mobile employees who either had an iPad or tablet PC or planned to get one in the next six months, 90.6 percent expected to do some work on their iPad or tablet PC.
The survey also asked about inflight Wi-Fi usage, even though the technology is still early on the adoption curve. The results showed that the majority of respondents (60 percent) still had not connected using inflight WiFi. For those who had connected, the laptop remained the most popular device (31.1 percent), followed by the mobile phone/smartphone (15.3 percent).
With the change in carrier plans and 3G performance issues, the majority of smartphone users chose Wi-Fi – 31.8 percent because it is faster and 15.6 percent because it is cheaper. Users that paid the bill themselves were more likely to use Wi-Fi.
