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.

2% of U.S. Employess Work From Home, 20 Million to 30 Million Telecommute Some of the Time

With gas prices breaking $4 a gallon in some markets, $5 in a few, it is inevitable there will be a new wave of thinking about the benefits of telecommuting or telework. About two percent  of the U.S. employee workforce (2.8 million people, not including the self employed or unpaid volunteers) work from home, according to the American Community Survey.

The Telework Research Network also estimates that 20 to 30 million employees currently work from home at least one day a week. About 15 to 20 million employees must travel at least part of the time for work. See this.

There also are 10 to 15 million home-based businesses and some three million full time home-based businesses.

60% of Office Workers Say They Don't Need Their Offices

 A new study funded by Cisco found that 60 percent of workers around the world believe that they do not need to be in the office anymore to be productive. This was especially the case in Asia and Latin America. More than nine of 10 employees in India (93 percent) said they did not need to be in the office to be productive. This sentiment was extremely prevalent in China (81 percent) and Brazil (76 percent) as well.


In fact, their desire to be mobile and flexible is so strong that 60 percent of workers would choose jobs that were lower-paying but allowed work outside of the office over higher salaried jobs that lacked such flexibility. 


According to the study, which involved surveys of 2,600 workers and IT professionals in 13 countries, 13 percent of respondents noted that having the flexibility to work anywhere would dictate their company loyalty, while 12 percent said it would have an impact on their choice of jobs. In fact, two-thirds of respondents said they would take a job with less pay and more flexibility in device usage, access to social media and mobility over a higher-paying job with less flexibility.

Social Networking is a Time Waster, Telecommuters Report

Mobile or remote access to email still tops the list of perceived productivity-enhancing tools telecommuters have access to, a survey by iPass finds.

About 85 percent said remote email access enhanced productivity, eclipsing even telephone access, at 75 percent. About 67 percent suggested text messaging and 66 percent reported that instant messaging boosted productivity.

Surprisingly, but maybe not for millions of people who routinely must attend lots of meetings, just 54 percent of mobile workers said meetings enhanced their productivity, while just 48 percent said travel was productivity enhancing. The former report suggests many meetings actually impede people getting their work done, while the latter finding probably only confirms that travel is a time-consuming activity that likewise prevents people from getting more work done.

And despite its popularity, 78 percent of mobile employees report that social media is a drain on their work productivity, as many suspect. Much social networking is a diversion from work, not an enabler of work.

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.

Boston Tops "Good for Telecommuting" List

Boston is the top U.S. medium-sized or large city for telecommuting, according to a new survey of 3,600 workers in 36 markets.

The survey, commissioned by Microsoft Corp., examined urban areas based on factors including the percentage of workers who say their jobs can be done from outside the office; the percentage of companies with formal work-from-home policies; the extent of support from bosses for working from home, as gauged by workers; and the extent of technological support provided by employers to enable working from home.

Most respondents said they were more productive when working from home. The top complaint listed was the lack of face-to-face interaction with colleagues.

Fewer than half of the companies surveyed had telecommuting policies. Within those companies that did have such policies, a little more than a third of workers took advantage of the opportunity.

Those workers listed achieving work/home balance, saving on gasoline and avoiding long commutes as their top reasons for telecommuting.

As for where they did work outside the office, many employees listed family vacation spots as a top choice. About a quarter of telecommuting workers said they set up operation in coffee shops. Some 10 percent worked from doctors’ offices.

The increase in telecommuting is being driven by the economy, which has made companies less willing to relocate staff, and by technology, which makes remote work lots easier.

After Boston, top telecommuting cities were:

Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
Atlanta
Denver
Kansas City, Mo.
Richmond, Va.
Austin, Texas
New York
Sacramento, Calif.
Portland, Ore.

source