42.5% of global workforce set to be mobile by 2022

The global workforce is becoming increasingly mobile. By 2022, 1.87 billion people will be mobile employees, comprising 42.5% of the total global workforce, Strategy Analytics predicts.

The findings are published in the Global Mobile Workforce Forecast Update 2016-2022. According to the report, globalisation and continued advancements in mobile technology and applications will continue to increase levels of mobility among executives, consultants, sales and field professionals, and other mobile professionals in all regions.

When comparing regional data, North America and Western Europe continue to lead in terms of mobile worker penetration.

"The mobile workers in these developed regions adapt and use far more mobile technologies than any other regions", said Andrew Brown, executive director of enterprise research at Strategy Analytics in a press release.

The workers are using technology such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, mobile device security, enterprise mobility management, business mobile applications, IoT, big data analytics, mobile cloud, and virtual reality.

Brown added that businesses in those leading regions are continuing to take advantage of telecommuting and offering employees flexible working environments.

Although it might not quite be the standard yet, 1.45 billion mobile workers already make up 38.8% of the current workforce. For Asian employers a workforce that's getting increasingly younger makes it easy to imagine the rise of technology, and with that a larger number of mobile workers.

To ensure organisations are set up for success in this new way of working, HR professionals should focus on creating the right workspace, keeping mobile workers engaged, and putting the right technology in place.

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