2014: The Year of iPads and Coffee Shops
Each New Year brings new trends, ideas, and innovations. And most importantly, new technologies. 2013 brought us Big Data, Video, and Smart Social Recruiting, to name a few. Now is the perfect time to consider, “What will 2014 produce for HR technology?”
I’m glad you asked.
2014 will be the year of iPads and coffee shops. At first read, this statement doesn’t quite sound like it has anything to do with technology, right? Yet, if we delve a little deeper, we will discover that the significance is not so much on the iPads and coffee shops themselves as it is on what they stand for: mobility and flexibility.
Like 2013, mobile will play a major role in HR technology in 2014. And although last year scratched the surface, I believe in 2014 we will witness an explosion of flexible workers and work spaces.
Mobility: Work anywhere, anytime
A prediction floated around this past year that by the end of 2013, there will be more mobile devices on the earth than people. And while data is still rolling in, it’s evident to see why researchers would suggest such a thing simply by looking at our own mobile usage.
Workers now have a personal cell phone, work cell phone, iPad, iPad mini, Kindle, iPod, laptop and portable hotspot. And take into account the possibility that not only does he or she possess all these devices, but the individual’s spouse, children, friends, boss(es), and coworkers.
2013 stats showed:
- 91 percent of all people on earth have a mobile phone
- 50 percent of mobile phone users use mobile as their primary Internet source
- The average person checks their smartphone 34 times a day
And when it came to the job seeking world, HR and recruiters were surprised to discover that in 2013:
- 77 percent of job seekers use mobile job search apps
- 3 in 5 job seekers searched for jobs via mobile devices
- 68 percent of job seekers used their mobile device to search for jobs once or more a week
Mobile is dominating the scene with nearly two-thirds of millennials benefiting from current Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, more than 44 percent of organizations currently offering this benefit and another 18 percent planning to implement BYOD by the end of 2013.
And with more and more mobile innovations being created, like the Google Smart Watch and Google Glasses, mobile usage is only going to steadily increase next year. Mobility offers employees the ability work from anywhere and at anytime, which leads to the flexibility trend of 2014.
Flex: Any Job Seeker’s Dream Position
Workers will use their mobile devices and ability to access work materials and files from any location to create more flexible work schedules and spaces. The traditional 9am-5pm, in-office work schedules and environments will slowly decrease as performance-based, telecommuting positions will take precedence.
Seventy-three percent of working adults look for flexibility in a job, and 3 in 5 workers say they don’t need to be in the office anymore to be productive. Instead of sitting in a cubicle for eight+ hours each day, workers want flexible hours- and locations—and being mobile gives them just that.
As flexible working conditions increase, HR departments will inevitably see a shift to results-only work models as employees continue riding the mobile wave into 2014.
The approaching New Year will paint a new picture for us workers; one where office spaces are replaced with dimly lit coffee shops and HR technology stays on-the-go.
This post is part of SilkRoad’s first annual #HRTechTrends Blog Carnival.