As many articles that talk about technology, I will also begin by stating that we live in a fast pacing world, where technology increases in importance. Even though sometimes it can seem that the newest update of the IPhone is not that interesting, the pace of how technology changes and upgrades is more than impressive.
Not only is the technology evolving but also the work environment, with new technologies emerging on the market new ways of how we see our job changes. Many companies already propose solutions like flexi time, where you can come and go as you like as long as you do prescribed hours. Today, we have two new trends that shake up the way we see the traditional nine to five job: BYOD and telework.
By now you must have heard of the term BYOD, which is an acronym for Bring your own device. Companies encourage their employees to bring their own devices to work, their Smartphones, laptops, tablets, whatever they need to do their job. The main objective of BYOD is to reduce the cost and increase productivity. First of all it reduces investment, since employees already own their own devices which are usually more up-to-date than what the company can propose. Also people like to work on their proper devices which they came to know and love.
Now that we all want to use our own devices at work, let’s see what telework is about. Teleworks is an arrangement between an employer and an employee, where the last doesn’t have to show up physically at the main office but can work from wherever in the world, often from at home. Teleworking is any situation where tasks are performed outside of one’s regular office.
Forbes Magazine says that today telework is no longer a distant dream, but the future of work, but one shouldn’t imagine oneself sitting by the pool sipping cocktails, but it is actually hard work where one has to have a lot of self-control.
Since 2010, telework has clearly increased in Luxembourg, notably by 3.1% in 5 years. This means that 6.1% of the labor force worked at least 8 hours per week from home in 2015. The European average is around 3%. The other countries in Europe where telework is most often used are Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden.
These two trends are only possible through the help of evolving technology and I guess we can say thank you.
