British Bosses Support a Mobile Workforce

Workers Want Mobility And Location Independence

Over half of Britain's employers are happy for their staff to work from home, according to the 1998 Motorola British and Technology report released today. Only 18% are against home-working and over a third of UK employees think working from home would be practical.

Increased mobility in the workplace is growing in popularity with 36% of Britain's workers wanting to work in excess of one week per month at home. One out of ten UK employees already spend in excess of 21 hours - three working days - per week working away from the office. 18% of respondents spend at least one night a month away from home and 4% are spending more than ten nights away.

This is more predominant among men who are two and a half times as likely as women to spend nights away from home on business. When working away, over half believe it is important to be contactable at all times.

For the British and Technology report, commissioned by Motorola and now in its fourth year, 1000 adults and 347 children were interviewed by MORI. The research looks at people's attitudes towards technology, and it demonstrates that Britain is becoming a nation demanding mobility. The survey also looks at both adults and children's views on the Internet, PCs, digital TV and smart-cards and on the electronic society, work, socialising and working practices.

Devices such as mobile phones and laptops play a major role in 'mobile living'. 86% of mobile phone users claim their phones gives them increased mobility and two in three believe mobiles allow them greater freedom to live life as they want. At work, 41% claim mobiles make them more productive and one third claim that their mobile is crucial for staying ahead in business.

Perhaps surprisingly though, most respondents stated that mobile phones are more useful in our personal lives. According to the survey, 91% of users stated that it is easy to be contacted by friends compared to 66% saying it is easy to be contacted by business associates. This is backed up by 82% of users stating that mobiles enable them to sort out personal problems immediately, compared to only 60% saying the same about business problems.

"Technology is helping us to stay in touch and keep up to date with developments, no matter where we are," comments Mark Durrant, corporate communications manager of Motorola Ltd. "We no longer need to be tied down to one particular place to communicate or access information. Mobile phones, e-mail and laptop PCs allow us to work or contact friends and family while we are travelling or away on business. As technology stops being perceived as a barrier to remote working, so the possibilities for flexible and knowledge based workers become endless."

Also, 86% of mobile phone users believe that their phone gives them peace of mind about the safety of loved ones and 81% agree that mobiles improve their own personal safety. One third of respondents use a mobile phone for keeping in touch with family and friends.

Technical details

MORI conducted 1000 face-to-face interviews between 21-24 August 1998. Interviewing was carried out among a nationally representative sample of British households. On completion of the study, the data was weighted to accurately represent the profile of the population.

MORI conducted 292 face-to-face interviews in Scotland between 21 August - 11 September 1998. Interviewing was carried out among a nationally representative sample of Scottish households.