Toward the 24/7 Workplace

Workers are going mobile for their communications. The existing web and desktop world are being left behind – and what is coming in is a 24/7 mobile workplace. Laura Petrecca has chronicled this movement in the March 7, 2013 USA Today. She finds:

• Pew Research reports that almost 2/3 of full-time workers own smartphones, up from 48% merely two years ago. One-third own a tablet, up from 12%.
• There is a herd effect: when one person answers the boss’s mail after-hours, others adapt to that habit to stay competitive.
• The "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) workplace is becoming common. Employees have personal gadgets that upload company applications. IDG, a Samsung Mobile research group, states that a majority of American companies have a form of BYOD program.
• Petrecca reports that off-hours availability has expanded from medical and emergency specialties to teachers, administrative assistants, officE managers, engineers and other professionals.
• Access to work for millions means pulling an iPhone or Android from one’s pocket. Consulting firm Accenture says two-thirds of U.S. employees work even during their vacations. "Has the 24/7 workplace gotten out of control?"
• There are legal issues. Those employees entitled to overtime pay must receive it when they work over a maximum number of hours, usually 40 in a workweek, under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The technology for constant communication is stretching this standard. A 2011 Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) survey found that only 20 percent of employers have a formal policy about wireless communication devices during non-work hours. Another quarter of employers had an informal policy. There are lawsuits in the courts challenging the 24/7 availability of employees. 
• Although some think new technology is increasing our leisure time, Rick Segal, president of the global ad agency Gyro has stated, "When everyone started carrying their own communication and telecommunications on their bodies, the boundaries between work and life collapsed." Segal also wrote in a 2012 report that technology has caused technology to invade "more hours of the day and more days of the week — curiously, as a matter of people's own behavior and choices." report.

Positive Views of Technological Changes to the Workplace

　

• Technology is moving us away from a factory atmosphere to more natural work spaces.
• Telework Research Network reports that workers can have increased job satisfaction by working wherever they want and whenever they want.
• The above group also found that Teleworkers can be more productive since they are less drawn into distractions at the office. They save money on commuting and have more options for scheduling child care and elder care.

More on this topic at:
 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/06/mobile-workforce-all-work/1958673/