February 6, 2004—January 13, 2004, Monterey, California—Internet Home Alliance, a cross-industry network of leading companies advancing the home technology market, announced today the launch of its Mobile Worker Pilot, a real-world trial of the “ideal” working environment for mobile workers–workers who use a PC as part of their job at least 15% of the time and have some freedom to choose where they work.
A cross-industry collaboration involving Internet Home Alliance members Cisco, Cushcraft, Herman Miller, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Panasonic and Taubman Centers, the four-month test will launch in April 2004 in a 2,400 square foot space in The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Texas, a Dallas suburb home to several Fortune 500 companies. Results of the pilot will be available to Alliance members in fall 2004 and the public in late 2004.
The pilot is the second step in Internet Home Alliance’s research into mobile and remote workers. In July 2003, the Alliance conducted a comprehensive study, entitled US Mobile & Remote Worker Study, consisting of a nationwide Web survey among 842 mobile and remote workers and complementary ethnographic or observational research in three major US cities. The research results helped Internet Home Alliance determine the characteristics of the “ideal” remote working environment and uncovered broader latent (or unarticulated) needs.
Among the key findings were the following:
- The greater the degree of freedom workers have to choose where they work, the more productive they are.
- Workers with “complete” freedom to choose where they work are significantly more likely than those with less freedom to be “very satisfied” with their work-life balance.
- Self-employed workers tend to have the greatest freedom to choose where they work and, among workers who are not self-employed, managers and sales and marketing personnel tend to have the greatest freedom.
- Small companies—those with fewer than 100 employees—have the highest concentration of workers with “complete freedom” to choose where they work.
- Mobile and remote workers believe the Internet and technology are important to helping them achieve a desirable work-life balance.
- A solid majority of workers (69%) would like the freedom to choose where they work.
An executive summary of the US Mobile & Remote Worker Study is available to the public from Home Alliance.
The second step in this research, the Mobile Worker Pilot will test the study’s findings—including what constitutes an “ideal” physical environment for mobile workers—under real-world conditions. Internet Home Alliance will examine the overall appeal of the mobile work environment, usage patterns, site behaviors, relative productivity levels, technology preferences and the impact of the space on area employers and other third parties.
