CorpComms Magazine

Thanks to major advances in mobile technology, the social media generation will no longer be chained to their office desks, according to a new study by US technology company Microsoft.

With digital tools and social networks enabling employees to collaborate remotely, IT services will be increasingly called on to support a workforce on the move. For times when a face-to-face encounter is indispensible, 'pop up' shared offices will allow managerial departments to pool resources and cut costs. 

Dave Coplin, national technology officer at Microsoft, said: 'Companies will be a bit more aggressive with how much office space they need. The savings in the short term will be around office space. At best 55 per cent of office space is used at any one time, leaving 45 per cent unused. That is 45 per cent of your office costs.'

But it's not just about savings. The study predicts that these measures will bring greater flexibility to business and that embracing social networks and cloud-based computing services will allow far better collaboration in the workplace.

'We have talked for a while about the death of the desk phone. Now we are talking about the death of the desk. Its not just about working from home. There are compelling reasons for working from a variety of locations.'

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