To better understand the increasingly mobile workforce, Knoll recently surveyed over 500 mobile workers employed by 84 different organizations. Here are some findings from their resulting 2007 report.
Demographic profile:
- 65% over age 40
- 65% male, 35 % female
- 82% married or living common law
Role and/or status in their organization:
- 80% held professional, managerial or executive positions
- 75% work more than 40 hours per week
Mobile workers “at the office”:
- 75% of mobile workers use “the office” for face-to-face meetings with co-workers, clients, and to socialize.
- 50% said they needed conference room space at their primary office, but typically had trouble finding it.
- 64% of mobile workers reported having an assigned workstation or private office at “work” with the majority commenting that they rarely used it, needing collaborative space more when at the office.
- 23% of mobile workers used unassigned workspaces or team spaces at “the office”
Other interesting facts:
- 61% of mobile workers say they do their best work at home. When asked to describe that work, the majority said it involved writing, reading, creating presentations, creative thinking, and correspondence.
- 25% reported doing their best work “at the office” and 8% reported client premises as the most productive place. A handful reported cafes or other as the best place to work.
- 90% of mobile workers use a lap top as their primary technology.
Are you mobile?
Do you fit the profile above?
For me: I’m semi-mobile, under age 40, married, work less than 40 hours (for my employer), managerial / professional. At the office, I collaborate during formal and informal face-to-face meetings; collaborate or research/interview on the phone; do smaller research or reading or writing tasks – for all these tasks, the office is the most efficient place. At home, I tend to do bigger research or writing projects – for this work, home is the most productive place.
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I would find it incredibly disruptive to have to move around (outside of my home office) to do my work – the odd times I’ve been forced to leave home and go to a bookstore or shop to do my work have been challenging for me. The most I move is my laptop from the office to the dining room to the kitchen to the family room when I need a change of scenery.
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:26 am
At my work management is rumoured to be introducing “agile working” where workers have mobile desktop computers which plug into unassigned networked workstations – by renting an office smaller than the requirements of the number of employeers, they save money on current expenditure. I doubt it has anything to do with creativity or productivity though…
I’m sure it’ll just mean that everyone tries to get in at silly o’clock to bag their normal desk, and then leave really early. Good for easing traffic congestion, I guess.
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
Great comments. Daniel raises three issues here. First, yes, making workers mobile can save money on office leasing. This is the reason many companies try this, however it’s worth noting that office space expenses are often only about 5% the cost of salaries and related expenses. But, sometimes shaving 2% off expenses by cutting back office space is important to shareholders and others who want more profits now and are unconcerned about the future.
Second, Daniel’s experience may also be a case of poor communication. His employer may have a comprehensive employee-focused retooling of the office space and workplace philosophy in mind. But, if this is not communicated early, and employees are not involved in helping to shape their future space and worklife, staff resistence is highly likely.
Third, the comment of everyone wanting a particular desk – yes, I’ve heard this is common in flex environments. Certain people want to sit in particular places. At one large financial firm, the workplace manager told me that many employees scrambled for the seats near the “top executives / managers”. They wanted to sit “where the action is”. Musical chairs, in a sense.
December 4th, 2011 at 11:28 am
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