What will be the future of work?
Will social networking and instant messages replace the standard business phone call, the client lunch and the handshake? A new survey by Directions Research, Inc. commissioned by Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) points toward an evolution in office workplace culture, including the changing ways white-collar workers are interacting and coordinating their tasks, and how business will be conducted in the social media-rich environment of the 21st century.
The research suggests several trends:
- The leap in new technology options and the shifting demographics of the workforce mean that the old, traditional way of doing business is rapidly being enhanced by new ways of working. More business will be conducted using emerging communications technologies and social networking platforms.
- Technologies that people prefer to use in their private lives will become the technologies people want to use at work.
- The younger generation prefers to use multiple channels of communication, often choosing social networks, text messaging or instant messaging instead of e-mail and in-person meetings. This shift could lead to increased support for work technologies that offer these capabilities.
The survey was conducted by Directions Research via Internet in late February 2009. Roughly 90 percent of the respondents were white-collar-workers. College students account for 10 percent of the survey. Survey responses were divided equally between men and women.
Key Findings:
- While email is still the leading technology tool of choice, usage of text messaging, instant messaging, social networking and online productivity tools are on the rise with white-collar workers under 35, with nearly one in three reporting they use these technologies at work daily.
- 50 percent of technology “leaders” would choose text messaging or instant messaging if they could have only one technology for a month for personal use.
- In the next five years, white-collar workers plan to increase their time working remotely by 50 percent, resulting in average white-collar workers spending 30 percent of their time working out of the office.
Link to survey: https://share.acrobat.com/adc/document.do?docid=6183dae4-c6f6-4a98-a35d-32e97bda4ab9
1 year ago
