No wonder the number of people deciding to partake in flexible and mobile working is on the rise, as more than half of the population now owns a smartphone.
This is according to a study carried out by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, who found that 50.3 per cent of Brits now have the technical device.
It also found that smartphones made up 71 per cent of sales in mobile phones for the twelve week period up until January 22nd this year.
More and more people are opting for the convenience of being able to access their emails from wherever they are, it would appear.
Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director, said: “For the first time ever, you are now in the minority if you don’t own a smartphone. With more people jumping on the bandwagon, there is huge opportunity for both retailers and manufacturers.”
Such technology is fuelling the ability to work from wherever, whenever, which is seeing the degradation of the traditional nine to five work pattern.
Many employees are finding that mobile working allows them to achieve a better life-work balance and it was recently found that flexible working is the top benefit after a pay increase for many workers.
Smartphones also mean that bosses feel they can reach their staff at all hours of the day or night, meaning policies must be put in place to prevent this from encroaching into personal time.
Author of the book The Activity Illusion Ian Price, said a couple of weeks ago, that the digital age has meant that the UK population are spending more and more time compulsively checking their emails.
Although there are definite benefits to being able to do so, it is important that employees allow themselves time to switch off from work and that their bosses encourage it too.
Holidays should be exactly that and taking a smartphone away should be avoided and times in the evening should be devoid of work also.
