July 14th, 2023, Kineree Shah
In a recent YouGov survey, consumers were asked about how often they use their phone when they are at work. Taking a global perspective, a third of consumers (33%) regularly find themselves checking their mobile devices at work. However, almost half (49%) say they do not often check their phones during work hours, with regional variances.
The UAE leads the pack with over half of consumers (53%) frequently using their phones while working, closely followed by India (49%), Singapore (46%), and Indonesia (46%). In contrast to these figures, Hong Kong, among other Asian markets, presents a lower frequency with only 34% of consumers frequently using their phones at work.
Italy reports the lowest frequency, with less than a fifth (19%) regularly using phones. Among the surveyed European countries, Poland has the highest frequency of mobile phone usage at work (34%). France and the United Kingdom exhibit a more moderate trend with three in ten consumers frequently using their mobile devices during work hours. A similar trend is observable in the United States and Canada (30% and 31% of consumers respectively).
Delving deeper into the data reveals an interesting correlation between the sector of employment and the frequency of mobile phone usage at work.
Professionals employed in the fields of media, marketing, advertising, PR, and sales lead the chart, with more than half (52%) regularly checking their phones at work. This likely results from the nature of these jobs, which typically require real-time updates, engagement, and prompt responses. Conversely, the education sector reports the least phone usage during work hours, with just over a third of employees doing so (34%).
Workers in other sectors, including manufacturing, construction, and real estate, also use their phones relatively frequently during work hours, with 45% of respondents from each of these sectors admitting to often using their phones at work. Employees in sectors such as transportation, retail, accountancy, medical and health services, and hospitality and leisure fall in the middle of the spectrum, with two in five employees (43%, 40%, 40%, 38%, and 37% respectively) frequently checking their phones at work.
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Methodology- YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 512 and 2005 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in June 2023. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.