Surprising Science — August 9, 2011

Profile of a Mobile Worker

Social contact manager Gist’s infographic on the relentless rise of the mobile workforce provides an interesting snapshot of this key business trend, which is also fueling tablet use.

bigthinkeditor

What’s the Latest Development?

With telecommuting on the rise, social contact manager Gist has analyzed data on the rise of the mobile workforce, detailing where they prefer to work and the devices they use to do it. Its infographic provides a snapshot of this key business trend which has seen the mobile workforce become business-as-usual for enterprises around the world. Every day it’s more the case that work is something people do, not a place they go.

What’s the Big Idea?

Three in five workers say they no longer need an office in order to be productive. However, 46% of mobile workers do feel most productive in an office, compared with 38% who favor working from home. Mobile workers are also fueling the tablet boom. Tablets are used by 65% of mobile workers, though so far just 27% of mobile workers use a tablet for work. As for smartphones, mobile workers use them for social media for work, information management, web conferencing, note-taking and office suites.

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