New research from O2 reveals that in the next two years, two thirds (65%) of British businesses expect 30% more of their employees – equivalent to just over 7 million people – to become mobile workers as the demand to work more flexibly, on the move, out of the office or from home expands.
In response to the anticipated influx of requests to out of the office, nearly three quarters (72%) of British companies are putting in place plans to transform their communications infrastructure, with 85% focusing on flexible working.
Over two thirds (67%) of businesses are already moving towards a growing trend of 'consumerisation', by allowing employees to connect their personal devices to the business network.
O2's findings suggest such progress will deliver huge benefits to UK businesses. Those identified by businesses include:
- Improved business agility (91%)
- Cost savings (83%)
- Improved productivity across the business (79%)
Additionally the introduction of bring your own device (BYOD) working has encouraged 85% of enterprises to start moving to a fully consolidated voice, mobile and data network. More than half (55%) of enterprises surveyed said that they now consider consolidation a high priority for their business, an increase of nearly a quarter (24%) since 2011.
