The number of people undertaking mobile working is to hit 1.3 billion by 2015, according to new research which has just been published.
These figures, which have been released by International Data Forecast (IDC), are for the global population and are a forecast which represents a growing trend in flexible and mobile working.
What this will equate to, if the predictions come true, is 37.2 per cent of the entire global population accessing their emails and work information remotely and carrying out their job in a place outside of the office.
This place may well be at home or in what has become known as a third place, such as a library or coffee shop – somewhere more convenient than the office, but less distracting than at home.
Areas which are predicted to see a large increase in the number of people mobile working are the emerging markets of Asia and the Pacific.
Places such as America will see a slower, yet steady growth in mobile working, as it is still undergoing economic recovery.
For the study, the mobile working population for Europe was grouped together with that of the Middle East and Africa, which had 186.2 million people carrying out the practice in 2010.
This region is expected to grow by 5.6 per cent annually in terms of mobile workers and by 2015 will account for 244.6 million staff working outside of the office globally.
Stacy Crook, senior research analyst for the IDC’s Mobile Enterprise Research programme, said: “Despite recent market turmoil, mobility continues to be a critical part of the global workforce and we expect to see healthy growth in the number of mobile workers.”
Mobile working is a phenomenon which has only been able to develop with the advancement of technologies, allowing staff to carry out their tasks wherever they are due to the likes of laptops, smartphones and video conferencing.
Modern lifestyles have also added to the popularity of mobile working as it helps many staff to have a healthy work life balance.
