A new survey by Sybase has revealed some interesting stats about just how much employees want to have freedom to use their own mobile devices at work, and what they are will to give up to achieve it.
The survey of over 500 office workers in the UK and US revealed that 71% of respondents felt so strongly about the benefits of being able to use their own device instead of those offered by IT that they would be willing to give up some perks of the job.
These include free coffee (58%), free food (39%), office supplies (30%), paid parking (26%) and, incredibly, a day of holiday (20%). It’s not surprising to see that many respondents (59%) felt that letting workers make their own choice is the best policy for companies to embrace.
Only 19% of respondents ‘strongly agreed’ with the suggestion that their employer makes it as easy for them to do their jobs from a mobile device as they can from a work computer. This is primarily due to a lack of access to decent mobile apps. Over half (56%) said using apps on their mobile devices makes them more productive.
There was also a call from nearly half the respondents for businesses to introduce their own application store where workers would be able to download and install apps that would help them do their job via their mobile device.
"This latest survey is a wake-up call for enterprises to broaden and accelerate their enterprise mobility strategies," said Dan Ortega, senior director of product marketing, Sybase. "Employees are beginning to have a much greater understanding of mobility, resulting in greater expectations from IT. We’re seeing more demand for mobile-focused methods of productivity, such as being able to use a variety of devices in the workplace, or being able to gain access to corporate applications through an app store environment."
