Mobile Workforce Report 2010 Review: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4
One week after IDC made its one billion mobile worker prediction iPass released its first Mobile Workforce Report and set-out to understand the changes in the global workplace and the habits of the mobile workforce. Every quarter we survey mobile workers and here are the top five trends we uncovered in 2010:
Trend #1 – There is a data security, cost, and employee productivity imbalance.
Within companies, there is a tradeoff and balance between data security, cost, and employee productivity. This is especially true when applied to younger workers. Although 91 percent had smartphones, only 59 percent used them for work because only 35 percent had smartphones that were provisioned by their companies. To contain costs, smartphones are often a perk reserved for more seasoned employees. And many companies have strict policies in place that forbid unprovisioned smartphones from being used for business purposes. These younger workers are simply obeying the rules.
Figure 1: Is your smartphone issued by your company or is it a personal device?
However, we did find 66 percent of mobile employees who were not provisioned a smartphone by their companies were using their private smartphones for work. This practice is less risky in companies that have created policies regarding smartphone usage (for example, remote wipe if a pass code is entered incorrectly five times). However, in companies where there is no stated policy, this could become a major problem. Consider that younger workers (23 percent) and those with un-provisioned smartphones (20 percent) were more likely to have a smartphone with business data on it lost or stolen versus the general mobile worker population (14 percent). Security experts point to lost or stolen smartphones as the enterprise’s biggest security risk today.
Figure 2: What was the worst thing that ever happened to your smartphone containing business data? (By age group.)
On the other hand, when companies forbid the use of personally owned smartphones for work, they also lose out on hours of potential productivity. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated the average employee workday at 8.8 hours in 20082, yet the average workday for mobile workers according to our 2010 survey, is one hour longer, closer to 10 hours a day. This adds up to six more productive weeks of work each year. There are huge productivity advantages to be gained from an on-demand workforce, even within the lowest levels of the organization.
Trend #2 – We are moving toward an increasingly hyper-connected workforce.
The mobile device continues to be a tether that creates an on-demand workforce – always at the ready to handle work or personal business. The iPass study found that 88 percent of mobile employees were checking their smartphones during downtime; 55 percent did it usually, and 6 percent admitted to checking their smartphones obsessively. Even while on vacation, only 6 percent of employees surveyed completely disconnected, 36 percent said that they were always connected, and the majority of mobile employees who connected while on vacation did so for work.
Figure 3: Do you check your smartphone during downtime? here.]
Always on, always connected has led to a more blended approach to technology usage and work/life balance – using a mobile device for both work and personal business. In fact, 94 percent of mobile employees used their smartphone/cell phone for both work and personal business. Even among iPad and tablet PC personal-owners, a surprising 91 percent planned to use them for work.
This mobile lifestyle has also had at least a situational effect on work/life balance. Only 11 percent saw mobile technology as a detriment to their work/life balance, while 35 percent thought it gave them more work/life balance. Most mobile employees (44 percent) thought it was situational, sometimes helping with work/life balance and other times hindering it.
Figure 4: Does mobile technology give you more or less work/life balance?
For the enterprise, an on-demand workforce delivers dramatic productivity benefits in customer service, crisis management, and day-to-day operations. It also enables employees to stay connected with their personal and professional communities.
Trend #3 – The post-PC era is here.
The laptop is becoming the new desktop, as the smartphone and tablet replace the laptop. Considering the penetration of smartphones across the mobile workforce, we asked whether mobile employees ever left their laptops at the office in the evening or during the weekends and just used their smartphones or other devices. Nearly half (43 percent) left their laptops at work at least occasionally.
Figure 5: Do you leave your work laptop at work on weekends/evenings and just use your smartphone?
Based on this, we wondered whether mobile employees saw the utility of this or another device usurping that of a laptop for general business purposes within the next year. A surprising 37 percent of workers thought another device would soon take that role, and 27 percent believed it would be the iPad or another tablet.
Figure 6: Do you think any device available today or in the next year can replace the laptop for general business use?
We have entered an era where the laptop stays plugged into the wall for the most part, and more nimble devices like the smartphone and tablet PC will take on the role of the computer on the go.
Trend #4 – The technical chasm is multi-generational and global.
The tech chasm that has allegedly formed in the workforce created by a cross-generational divide – between those who grew-up with technology and those that didn’t – is vastly overstated.
In the world of social media, the median age of a Facebook user is 383 (older than a millennial) and the average Twitter user is 39. While there are generational differences in work styles, this technology sea of change in the workforce actually spans more than just one generation. In fact, iPass puts the median age of a mobile worker today nearly a decade older, somewhere around 46 years old.
In reality, older generations are just as disruptive as younger individuals to the status quo in the workforce today. We also found limited differences between geographies as well, indicating that this is a worldwide phenomenon, and not just confined to one region of the world.
Trend #5 – Multi-mobile rules the day.
Nearly 97 percent of mobile employees carried two or more mobile devices (they are “multi-mobile”), and almost 50 percent carried three or more. The most popular mobile device was the laptop, followed by the smartphone and cell phone. We did find some adoption of tablet PCs and iPads by the most gadget-equipped users. We also found that if an employee carried only one device, it was usually a cell phone or a smartphone (80 percent).
Figure 7: How many of the following mobile devices do you have/carry regularly for work and personal use?
When the iPad was first released in the spring of this year, many pundits questioned if the world needed yet another mobile device. The answer is a resounding yes. Employees are happy to carry multiple devices, for multiple purposes… and in 2010 multiple mobile devices ruled the day.
2 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Household Data Averages
3 Flowtown, September 1, 2010, My Mom is on Facebook
Mobile Workforce Report 2010 Review: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4
