More and more employees are leaving the office behind and opting for a mobile work situation, and the trend is expected to continue.
A recent study Worldwide Mobile Worker Population 2011-2015
Forecast by International Data Corporation (IDC) has predicted that the
number of mobile workers will reach 1.3 billion — 37.2% of the entire
workforce — by the year 2015. The most substantial increase would be in the
Asia/Pacific region due to an ongoing, strong economic growth. The United
States, Canada, and Latin America combined will see a slower upward trend. This
slower increase will be due to the continued sluggish economy and unemployment.
Mobility remains a crucial element of the workforce across the world, despite fluctuations in the economy and market turmoil, and there will be significant growth in the next few years.
“Our forecast shows that the worldwide mobile worker population will increase from
just over 1 billion in 2010 to more than 1.3 billion by 2015,” Stacy Crook,
Senior Research Analyst for IDC’s Mobile Enterprise Research program, said. According to the IDC report, the United States, Canada and Latin America combined is likely to see a growth from 182.5 million in 2010 to 212.1 million in 2015. In this region
right now, North America has the highest number of mobile workers, with 75% of
the workforce being mobile in 2010.
In the Asia/Pacific region, the increase is expected to be the highest: 601.7 million
mobile workers in 2010 and 838.7 million in 2015. The numbers are due to the
large populations in both India and China together, with robust economic growth
in both countries. This regional grouping does not include Japan. IDC’s
forecast also predicts that the mobile workforce will see a compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6% in Europe, Middle East and Africa, with the 2010
figure of 186.2 million increasing to 244.6 million in 2015. There will be a
decline in the CAGR of 0.2% in Japan due to reduced population growth there —
but 64.8% of its workforce will be mobile workers, numbering around 38.6
million by 2015.
International Data Corporation based in Framingham, Mass. is a leading global provider of diverse types of market intelligence, advisory and event services for the IT,
telecommunications and consumer technology markets.
