Pinoy Employees Happiest When Left to Their Own Devices
Inaugural VMware New Way of Life study in the Philippines reveals the work-style preferences of an always-on, always-mobile and always-connected
Results call for organizations to provide greater support for mobile workers
MANILA, 12 March 2013– The “work hard, play hard” mentality of Pinoys has been found to extend to their personal portable devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, according to new research commissioned by the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW).
The VMware New Way of Life study highlights the work-style and life-style habits of an increasingly mobile Pinoy workforce in the post PC era. Conducted for the first time in the Philippines, it found that younger employees are driving changing patterns of technology usage in the workplace, with 75% of those responding to the study classified as millennials or those under the age of 34.
“We are experiencing a technology revolution that is being dictated by the demands of an increasingly young, connected, and vibrant Philippines society,” said Emmanuel Portugal, country manager, VMware in the Philippines. “This new way of life holds positive productivity implications for employers that adopt more flexible IT policies, but also brings with it very real concerns around ensuring corporate data security and compliance as well.”
The New Way of Life study was commissioned by VMware and conducted by Acorn Research. It surveyed over 2,100 people in 12 countries across Asia-Pacific, including 150 responses from the Philippines in 2013.
Pinoy Employees Taking IT into their Own Hands
According to the VMware New Way of Life Study, the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) movement is prevalent in the Philippines. 81% of respondents own two or more personal devices, and 85% of respondents bring these to work.
By bringing their own personal devices to accomplish their work, the majority agreed that they are:
- more efficient working out of the office (80%)
- faster to respond to change (74%); and
- less stressed (74%),
93% of end users say their IT department is aware that they bring their own devices to work. However, only three in ten people (32%) receive IT support to work on those devices.
Where corporate IT support was found lacking, 41% of respondents say they will continue to use their own technology to do their work. In fact, three in five employees (60%) say they will either troubleshoot issues on their own, and one in two (52%) will rely on search engines like Google to find ways to integrate their choice of technology into the workplace.
“The undeniable call to action for companies in the Philippines is to adapt to the personal needs of our young workforce by modernizing IT policies to enable the next generation mobile worker without compromising risk, security and/or compliance to the organization,” added Portugal.
Device Democracy a Source of Talent Attraction and Retention
The VMware New Way of Life Study also reveals that using their choice of technology for work is about much more than just preference for employees – it is about employee satisfaction and talent retention too.
75% of employees say they value technological mobility in their role. When allowed to use their personal portable devices at work, seven in ten respondents:
- say they are happier in their role (73%); and
- believe such companies are more progressive and dynamic, and would be their employer of choice (71%).
“The floods that swept the Philippines last year are a great example of why it is important to empower employees to work flexibly in their own time, anywhere and from any device. By taking advantage of virtualization and cloud computing to modernize their IT policies, companies can effectively manage employee access to corporate applications and data whilst ensuring that sensitive information is kept confidential,” said Portugal.
In a separate announcement on 21 February 2013, VMware unveiled the VMware Horizon™ Suite, the industry’s most comprehensive platform for workforce mobility. The suite, consisting of VMware Horizon Workspace™, VMware Horizon View™ and VMware Horizon Mirage™ simplifies end-user computing and empowers workforce mobility that connects end-users to their data, applications and desktops on any device without sacrificing IT security and control.
About the VMware New Way of Life 2013 Study
VMware began an annual “New Way” consumer study to identify trends around end-user computing. In 2012, the study was called the “New Way of Work” and BYOD was found to be a growing phenomenon in Asia Pacific. In 2013, the “New Way of Life” study examines the evolving work-style and lifestyle preferences of modern employees in a Post PC era, and the impact of IT policies and technologies on personal productivity and job satisfaction. A summary report can be downloaded at http://info.vmware.com/content/APAC_AP_NewWayOfLife.
The VMware New Way of Life 2013 study was commissioned by VMware and conducted by Acorn Marketing & Research Consultants. Approximately 2,100 people between the ages of 18-64 participated in the survey. All participants work in organizations with more than 1,000 staff globally, and for at least 15 hours or more a week. The survey was conducted in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Indonesia and Philippines were added to the VMware study in 2013.
About VMware
VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2012 revenues of $4.61 billion, VMware has more than 480,000 customers and 55,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.
VMware and VMware Horizon, Horizon View, Horizon Mirage and Horizon Workspace are trademarks or registered trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions.
Media Contacts:
Rebecca Wong
ASEAN Communications Manager, VMware
P. +65 6501 2135 / E.
wongr@vmware.com
