Mobile Workforce Report Q3 2011: Page 1: Introduction | Page 2: The Always-On Workforce | Page 3: To Connect or Disconnect? | Page 4: Device and Connectivity Trends | Page 5: Conclusion
Hyperconnectivity—the impulse to always be connected—captured a large number of headlines this year. The statistics are staggering. Cisco reported in July of 2011 that the number of devices connected to the Internet exceeded the number of people populating the entire planet in 2008. Cisco also predicted that by the end of 2011, just 20 typical households will generate more Internet traffic than the entire Internet did in 2008. Downloads are significantly larger, the sites are visited much more frequently, and social media has become ubiquitous. It comes as no big surprise that as a society, we are spending an increasingly large part of our time connected to technology.
But is the amount of time that the mobile worker is connected only going to increase? In the 2010 iPass Mobile Workforce Report Year End Review, we predicted that the pendulum would swing back closer to the center—that mobile employees would find a better work/life balance. At this point in time, mobile workers are more connected, but they are increasingly finding pockets of time to disconnect in order to maintain balance. When we asked employees this quarter if they ever disconnected from technology.
| 2011 iPass Survey results | 2010 iPass Survey Results | |
| Yes | 67.5% | 46.5% |
| No | 32.5% | 53.5% |
Figure 14: Do you ever completely disconnect from technology during your waking hours?
This quarter’s mobile workers were disconnecting and finding balance for a variety of excellent reasons. 48 percent disconnected to spend more time with families; 47 percent during theater, stage, or other performances; and 35 percent during dinners at home. They also disconnected when their connectivity options were both limited or unavailable—39 percent during air travel, and 36 percent while in a connectivity dead zone.
For most of these disconnected times, it would be difficult or even impossible to use a mobile device. Airplanes have traditionally been considered a great place to work. As otherwise non-productive time, employees have always worked during air flights, all the way back to the pen and pad of paper days. But with the growing availability of Inflight Wi-Fi, we expect the number of workers disconnecting during air travel to drop significantly in future surveys. In fact, year over year, we’ve seen Inflight Wi-Fi users grow from 40 percent of respondents in 2010—to 53 percent in 2011.
Although two of the top five reasons for disconnecting were more opportunistic than directed, it is still an incredible sign that mobile workers are finally figuring out how to workshift effectively, set more boundaries, and as a result, improve their productivity and happiness.
Figure 15: If you ever completely disconnect from technology during waking hours, where, when, and why? (Select all that apply.)
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In Sweden during July, the country is finally blessed with good weather and pretty much everyone takes the entire month off. For many other Europeans, it’s often August, or “lie on the beach in Greece month”. And don’t even try to conduct business during Golden Week (also known as Ogon shukan) in Japan. They are all on holiday, and if you haven’t previously booked hotels throughout your stay (and gotten written confirmation), you might end up sleeping in a temple—or worse, on bus stop bench.
In Norway, everyone goes on holiday during Easter week, including some small hotels whose management may
have forgotten that you previously booked a room. Don’t bother trying to plan any meetings. Chances are no one will turn up, but even if they do, they might invite you skiing instead. In England it is not exactly a holiday, but when the national soccer team is playing in a World Cup match, good luck to anyone trying to conduct business. It’s a good bet they’ll all be watching the game.
But even though these workers aren’t physically in their offices during holidays, an impressive 97 percent still stay connected to technology (up from 93 percent in 2010) while on vacation.
Figure 16: Do you usually connect to technology (such as smartphones, tablets, PCs) during vacation?
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And connecting isn’t just for staying in touch with their friends and family, or connecting for other personal reasons. Of the 97 percent of workers that did connect while on vacation, nearly all (94 percent) did so at least partly for work.
Figure 17: Do you connect to technology when on vacation for work or personal reasons?
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Long gone are the days when “away from the office” meant you completely disconnected from your boss and coworkers. More than 69 percent of mobile workers checked into work at least daily, while 93 percent checked in at least weekly. But some mobile workers can hardly call their time away from the office “vacation.” 41 percent of these workers still checked in multiple times per day. 52 percent connected to make sure they didn’t fall behind on work, weren’t overwhelmed upon return to work, or to ensure completion of a work project.
Figure 18: If you stay connected to technology for work when you are on vacation, how often do you connect?
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Although their motivations to connect were mainly for work, personal connectivity did play a significant role as well. 54 percent connected to make sure they kept abreast with what was happening in the rest of the world, and 45 percent connected to send personal emails and provide status updates on social sites, including Facebook and the Tumblr blog posting platform.
Figure 19: Why do you connect to technology during vacation? (Check all that apply.)
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Although vacations were one of the largest personal conflicts with work that mobile employees faced, we were also curious about what happened when mobile employees had an important personal event that interfered with their regular work schedule. The vast majority workshifted—56 percent did their work later that night and 11 percent pushed it to the next day. Only 23 percent dropped items off their plate entirely or reprioritized their tasks, and just 9 percent stayed at work to get the job done.
Figure 20: When you have a conflict between your workload and an important personal engagement or commitment, in most
instances you…
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When work could not be avoided, mobile workers found themselves working in some strange places and during a variety of events. 51 percent had done office work during a personal appointment or other commitment, and 28 percent at a sporting event or in a restaurant during a dinner date.
And is it nature or nurture? It is interesting to note that many individuals found themselves nurturing their work ethic while out in nature. 37 percent worked while at a park and 15 percent while on a hiking trail.
Figure 21: Have you ever had to do your office work at any of the following venues or events? (Select all that apply)
(Click Image to Enlarge)
Wi-Fi is still an important source of connectivity for mobile workers. 34 percent of today’s mobile workers would be willing to pay for either a worldwide or regional Wi-Fi plan, and an additional 26 percent would pay a per-use fee as part of their existing mobile plan. 24 percent expected Wi-Fi to be free from their carrier, and only 17 percent would either not pay for a Wi-Fi plan in any case, or didn’t use the service.
Figure 22: Would you pay for a worldwide Wi-Fi plan from your mobile network operator/carrier?
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Excessive roaming charges remained a significant issue for 43 percent of mobile employees. The actual number of employees racking up large roaming bills is probably higher than that number, since 13 percent of respondents weren’t aware of their usage. These workers didn’t know if they had ever received an excessive roaming bill or not.
Figure 23: Have you ever had a data roaming bill that you thought was too expensive?
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80 percent of mobile employees had received a roaming bill in the last year. And for 5 percent, the total had exceeded a whopping $1,000. The most startling result was that over a fifth (22 percent) of all respondents did not know what their roaming charges were since their employers paid their bills. Companies that pay the connectivity bills need to convey this information back to the employees, so they can chose more cost-effective ways to connect.
Figure 24: What was the most you ever paid for data roaming on a single monthly bill?
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Although the majority of mobile workers find these behaviors unacceptable, 40 percent admit to having taken a call on a smartphone or a cellphone during a meeting, 48 percent have checked a smartphone during a face-to-face meeting with clients or colleagues when someone else is presenting, and 49 percent have checked a smartphone while driving.
And while mobile workers were mixed on whether the following behaviors are acceptable or unacceptable, 73 percent admit to checking a smartphone during a meal or out with friends, 31 percent have let a child under the age of seven use a smartphone as entertainment when out to dinner, and 29 percent have taken a call from a smartphone/cellphone in a public toilet.
Overall, 89 percent of mobile workers have engaged in at least one of these behaviors. By generation, 93 percent of those under the age of 45, and 80 percent of those over the age of 55 have engaged in at least one of these behaviors.
Even if you are paying the connectivity bills for your mobile workers, send monthly mobility reports to each employee and their manager so they will be aware of their usage.
Make information on the costs of different connectivity options readily available to all employees. Many do not know the most cost-effective way to connect and are incurring huge, unnecessary roaming charges for the enterprise.
Define what roaming is in the usage policies. Make it very clear to employees under what situations they will incur roaming charges (including going across international borders). You should also provide roaming reference tips. For example, employees may know to not make a phone call in a roaming zone, but may forget to turn off data roaming while traveling so just checking their email becomes expensive.
Large companies can have some sway in how their billing is handled. Discussing very specific companywide plans directly with the senior management of mobile carriers can eliminate these large-bill anomalies.
To make workshifting employees productive outside the office, consider a Wi-Fi roaming solution to ensure employees are connected virtually everywhere they go.
Mobile Workforce Report Q3 2011: Page 1: Introduction | Page 2: The Always-On Workforce | Page 3: To Connect or Disconnect? | Page 4: Device and Connectivity Trends | Page 5: Conclusion
