During the pandemic, the rapid flight to health, safety, and remote work caught many employers’ IT departments unprepared. Many workers did not have employer-provided computers or even home-owned ones, although the majority had smartphones. At the same time, much of the online population was already migrating many of their everyday activities away from computers to smartphones. Consequently, roughly half of online adults in the US and UK, and over 40% of those in Germany and Japan, regularly use their smartphones for work-related activities.
This MetaFAQ reports on the percentage of online adults that use a smartphone for a range of work-related activities, from checking email and participating in online meetings to phone and video calls. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0123_spwt] in TUP Lenses: Mobile Phones; Activities; Communication; Work/Life Balance
Half of Americans use a smartphone for work
Half of Americans use a smartphone for work – Over half of online American adults utilize smartphones for various work tasks, from emails to videoconferencing. One in six American workers relies solely on a smartphone. Another quarter have all three: a smartphone, computer and tablet, and 80% of these rely on smartphones for work activities. Interestingly, half lack employer-provided computers.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online adults regularly using a smartphone for work-related activities. Report [TUP_doc_2023_1125_spwr] in TUP Lenses: Mobile Phones; Activities; Communication; Work/Life Balance
How employees working from home are balancing their activities
Employees working from home have unique challenges in getting work done while often using personal and employer-provided devices. While seeking to balance their work and personal lives, they are also finding new ways to use their devices. A substantial share regularly does TikTok-type work – creating videos for work and personal purposes. This MetaFAQs reports on the top 10 activities employees that work from home do with their connected devices: smartphones, computers, and tablets. It also identifies which activities are done more often than the average online adult.
Profile of Americans who regularly participate in video meetings
After the emergence of COVID and the rise of increasingly hybrid and remote work environments–are video meetings the new normal? 38% of all online American adults, or 83.8 million, regularly participate in video meetings. This MetaFAQs profiles those who regularly participate in video meetings by several critical demographic and behavioral factors distinctive from the average American online adult: age and gender; employment status; life stage (age, employment status, presence of children); the number of PCs used and technology ecosystem entrenchment. Report [TUP_doc_2022_0722_mode] in TUP Lenses: Activities, Communication.
Highlights: Activities
What we do paints a richer picture than what we carry or own. All computers are not used the same and nor are smartphones or tablets. Each user has their preference about how they spend their time. Also, each user expresses their choices about which connected devices they turn to for each type of activity. While some see their tablets as passive movie screens, others rely on them as communication hubs. Some users prefer to shop on a computer, while others rely more on their smartphones.
This TUP Highlights report includes the following sections: main activities across all tech devices, major activities for each device type, activities unique to which device type, cross-device activities, the profile of activity type users, major activities for a market segment, home entertainment activities, the profile by key activities, and listening activities.
Communication TUP Lens Highlights
During the pandemic, employees suddenly working from home accelerated their use of videoconferencing, home computers, and other connected devices. Similarly, those not employed outside the home sought ways to stay connected with others or help their students continue their education. Communication activities ranging from videoconferencing to video calls, email, group chats, and text messaging are at the heart of these connections. Market adoption has not been assured nor evenly distributed, as only some segments adopted behaviors they continued. Meanwhile, other segments dallied with new communication methods and then returned to their old ways.
This TUP Highlights report includes the following sections: communication activities by device type, communication activities among those working from home, devices used for work-related communication, and top communication activities.
Devices used for work video meetings
Work-related video conferences had been growing in use even before the pandemic. Platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Webex solidified their prominence, even while employees have many other ways to communicate – email, text, and collaboration platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Nearly between 33% and 43% of employees in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan regularly use one of their connected devices to participate in work-related video group meetings. This MetaFAQs reports on the number of employees regularly using their connected devices for work-related video group meetings, detailing each device type used – smartphone, home PC, work PC, or tablet – by the size of their employer: <20 employees, 20-499 employees, or 500+ employees.
Mobile Phones TUP Lens
Smartphones have rapidly, although not completely, replaced feature phones. Smartphone users have expanded their range of activities with new uses while also increasingly migrating activities from computers and tablets. This TUP Highlights Report profiles smartphones – their market penetration, user demographic profile, regular activities, usage profile, key competitors, and purchase plans.
This TUP Highlights report includes the following sections: penetration of smartphones versus feature phones, smartphone brand share, top activities for smartphones, smartphone carrier share, smartphone usage profile, trends in technology ecosystems, major activities for a market segment, and the profile of smartphone users.
Employee’s video calls/meetings by device type [MetaFAQs]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, December 3, 2020
Employees are busy having video calls, meetings, and group chats and are using a wide range of devices to do so. While smartphones are a top platform, home PCs, work PCs, and even tablets are regularly used. There are some differences by employer size and country.
Employees in video calls/conferences by employer size [MetaFAQs]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 30, 2020
Meetings! They don’t stop because of video conferencing, video calls, or group chats. This MetaFAQs details the share of employees that regularly connect online using any of their smartphones, PCs, tablets, or even game consoles. The results are split out by employer size to show whether there is a difference between smaller or larger employers.