Office? A thing of the past by 2021

Workers in the UK expect that by 2021 offices will face extinction as technology enables mobile working, says a new study.
 


Some 58 per cent of the office workers surveyed as part of the research believe that companies will no longer require an office space to do business in ten years. The study, commissioned by Virgin Media Business, reveals that 56 per cent of employees expect to see a marked reduction in the amount of time they spend travelling to and from work or to meetings.
 


Nearly two-thirds, or 63 per cent, hope that one device will be all they need to work, offering access to everything they require in not only their professional but also their private lives.
 


Mark Heraghty, Managing Director of Virgin Media Business, says, ‘This is a trend that we’re already starting to see across the UK, with mobile working tripling in the last year alone. ‘As employers search for more agile and effective ways of running their businesses, we’re increasingly finding that firms are swapping expensive office spaces in favour of a virtual workplace, where all activities can be conducted remotely.’
 


Some 83 per cent of the workers polled say they are more productive now than in 2001, as smart phones and cloud computing make it easier to work out of the office.

 
APA