Survey Shows Businesses Need To Embrace Mobile Working

According to research sponsored by Microsoft, mobile working is on the rise and businesses need to pay attention or risk losing employees to companies with more attractive flexi-working policies.

The survey revealed that 73% of people in the U.K. consider the ability to work flexibly a deciding factor when choosing a new job; while 52% of workers believe they would enjoy a less stressful working life as a benefit of working remotely.

Room for Improvement

The research pinpoints three key areas that businesses need to focus on to promote mobile working.

First, only 16% of businesses have a formal flexible-working policy in place.

Second, the survey revealed that while younger people (ages 16 - 24) would like to work remotely, one in four are concerned that this will be negatively perceived by employers. This highlights a perception issue, with staff feeling that they are not trusted to work productively away from the office.

Finally, 36% of survey respondents cited a lack of proper equipment as the primary barrier to working away from the office. This is a strong sign that providing employees with the technologies they need to work remotely -- whether this be a laptop, UMPC, and/or smartphone -- is key to the successful implementation of flexible working.