Mobile workers to represent 57% of Irish workforce by 2016, IDC

Trade

6 June 2012

Mobile workers in Ireland will represent 57% of the total working population by 2016 or 1.4 million people, up from 48% in 2011 according to an IDC executive brief sponsored by O2.

The brief, Joined up People, was designed to help organisations adjust to the new realities of mobile working by offering them a combination of consultancy services, communications products, security capabilities and technical expertise.

Commenting on the executive brief Alan Brown, business Director at Telefónica Ireland, which operates the O2 brand, said: "Over the last decade, we have seen rapid changes both in technology and working patterns. One of the results is that desk-bound workers with fixed PCs are becoming less of a norm, while mobile working grows and grows. This presents both a challenge and an opportunity for companies and their IT managers."

The Executive Brief highlights that the Irish smartphone market will grow by 12% to 1.3 million units in 2012 overtaking legacy mobile phones. By 2016, IDC forecasts that smartphones will represent 88% of all units shipped in the Irish mobile device market, or 2.2 million delivered in that year alone.

"The ‘consumerisation’ of IT is happening at a rapid rate as more employees experience a blurring of business and private usage of technology," commented Nicholas McQuire, director, Mobile Enterprise Strategies EMEA at IDC, who co wrote the report. "Irish IT managers are struggling with the proliferation of consumer devices invading the workspace, not just smartphones but tablets."

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