Smart Phones Not Optional for Today's Workers

Some 91 percent of mobile workers report they checked their smart phones during their otherwise unoccupied moments of the day. The latest iPass survey found that some 38 percent of mobile workers use their mobile devices to check their email the first thing in the morning, before their commute, 25 percent worked during their commute, and 22 percent worked again on the way home, each and every day.

In fact, for many, work is a never-ending cycle. About 37 percent report they work each evening. Some 33 percent work again when they arrived home, 26 percent after dinner, and 19 percent said they work again after they put their children to bed at night.

About 49 percent said they would work in the middle of the night when they were unable to sleep, at least on an occasional basis. The largest percentage recorded was in the category “work before my commute to the office,” with 62 percent responding that they did so at least one to two  times per week.

Some 37 percent of survey respondents also report they worked during lunch every day, 66 percent at least once or twice per week. Not surprisingly, workers in North America were the most likely to work through their lunch hours.

Some 45 percent of mobile workers in North America connected to technology during lunch every day. This trend was slightly lower in other geographies. Just a third (33 percent) in Europe worked during lunch every day and 31 percent of those in Asia Pacific.

Mobile workers are not only shifting their work periods to different times of day, they are also working from a variety of different locations. The most common place outside the office is the homes, with 47 percent working from home daily and 99 percent at least occasionally.

But these mobile workers do get out from time to time. 88 percent worked from the road; 84 percent from a coffee shop, restaurant or bar; and 77 percent worked outside using a city-mesh Wi-Fi at least on an occasional basis.

Some 72 percent of the 3,100 respondents said that they used a mobile device on a daily basis within the office, as well.

Some 75 percent of respondents worked more hours because of the increased flexibility in when and where they could work. More than half (55 percent) were working at least 10 or more additional hours each week.

But some were working significantly longer. About 12 percent were working 20 or more additional hours each week as a result of the freedom to choose when and where to work.

In addition to working more hours, these mobile workers also felt more productive when their schedules were flexible. Some 54 percent said that their productivity was substantially improved and an additional 24 percent stated they were marginally more productive. Only three percent felt that the additional flexibility in work times and locations decreased their productivity.

Smart phones have reached close to 100 percent penetration among mobile workers. Across the generations, 96 percent of mobile workers under the age of 45 have a smartphone and 91 percent of those over the age of 55. Relatively new on the market, tablets continue to be the big story of 2011. Currently, 41 percent of mobile workers have a tablet and an additional 34 percent of mobile workers intend to purchase a tablet in the next six months. Taken together, we expect to see 75 percent of mobile workers with a tablet this fall.

Among tablet-owning mobile workers, iPads dominate with 72 percent of the current marketshare in this study. It looks like this will remain the case this year with 63 percent of mobile employees indicating that they plan to purchase or receive an iPad 2 in the next six months, bringing the potential future market share for iPads to 71 percent of tablet-carrying mobile workers.

95% of Workers Remain Connected When Not at Work, iPass Finds

Only 5.9 per cent of workers disconnect from the office while on leave, and 40 per cent have tried in-flight Wi-Fi to keep them connected, a new survey by iPass has found.

The mobile device continues to be a tether creating an on-demand workforce. The majority of respondents (53.6 percent) never truly disconnect from technology. For the 46.4 percent of mobile employees that do on occasion disconnect, their reasons were mostly situational, such as being in a location with poor connectivity. 

Even while on vacation, 94 percent of mobile employees connect to the Internet, and the majority connect for work.

Mobile workers are used to carrying multiple mobile devices. Nearly 97 percent of mobile employees carry two or more mobile devices, and almost 50 percent carried three or more.

Mobile workers use their mobile devices to blend work and personal business. More than 90 percent of employees use their smartphone for both work and personal business. Even among users of consumer devices like the iPad and tablet PC, 91 percent currently use it or plan to use it for work. The line between consumer and business applications has also blurred. Most respondents use email, calendar, text messaging and browsing for both work and personal on their smartphones. The only exception is social media, which is rarely accessed for work.

There is a resurgence of Wi-Fi access among smartphone users. While the majority of smartphone users are choosing Wi-Fi to connect, the primary reason stated (31.8 percent) is because it is faster than 3G.

Telecommuters Work Longer Hours, iPass Finds

Do you think you and your co-workers are the only people working much-longer hours than you used to? You are not alone. Though the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated the average employee workday at 8.8 hours in 2008, iPass finds after analyzing its data that the average workday for mobile workers was one hour longer, closer to 10 hours a day.

About 34 percent of survey respondents say they work 55 hours or more a week, or at least 11 hours a day. Such workers also telecommute more frequently than the other segments. About eight percent report they are "always" working.

About 62 percent telecommuted at least one day a week, for example. Perhaps not surprisingly, 13 percent they did see a negative impact on their work-life balance.

About 47 percent of respondents say they work 45 to 55 hours a week; in line with modern workday averages.

About 18 percent of respondents report working 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.


The surveys suggest, contrary to what some employers seem to believe, that in-office workers spend less time working than workers who are allowed to telecommute, though it is likely the findings are skewed to the extent that telecommuting works best for employees whose jobs are "outcomes" related and are relatively easy to measure.

Enterprise Workers Ready to Ditch Their PCs for Smartphones?

Something rather unusual seems to be happening in the enterprise mobility space. According to a recent survey taken by iPass, 63 percent of mobile employees prefer to use a smartphone, not a laptop, as their primary mobile device, for trips of any length.

For trips of up to five days, 59 percent of respondents prefer to carry a smartphone, while 41 percent prefer a laptop. For trips lasting longer than 30 days, 64 percent prefer a smartphone to a laptop.

That likely is testament to the high value traveling workers place on voice and text communications, as well as the increased capabilities smartphones now offer, including email and Web access.

But the findings also suggest that some enterprises are over-investing in laptops and software and might need to look at scenarios where mobile or traveling workers can get along just fine with smartphones.

There is another and possibly darker view here as well. Industry suppliers have been touting mobility investments as a driver of productivity. As it now appears, enterprise workers do not even want to carry laptops with them when traveling. So what is the value of all those investments in remote access?

Granted, most enterprises likely are trying to get a better handle on mobile phone expenses, so indiscriminate replacment might not be wise. But the survey also suggests the near-universal embrace of the BlackBerry has "soft" support from users.

According to the iPass survey, while 32 percent of mobile employees ranked the BlackBerry smartphone as their mobile device of choice, 54 percent of BlackBerry smartphone users would switch to an Apple iPhone if it was supported by their enterprise.

"Mobility" also once was an issue of supporting traveling workers. Today every employee
is a potential mobile employee, iPass says. While many mobile employees have some business travel, many more are logging in from home.

About 68 percent of iPass survey respondents did not travel during the last quarter of 2009, but  45.8 percent of mobile employees logged in from home at least twice a month, and 16.8 percent logged in more than ten times a month.

Excluding home and the office, mobile employees most often log in from hotels (42.6 percent), airports (27.2 percent), retail outlets and restaurants (27 percent).

According to the iPass survey, while 32 percent of mobile employees ranked the BlackBerry smartphone as their mobile device of choice, 54 percent of BlackBerry smartphone users would switch to an Apple iPhone if it was supported by their enterprise.