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Global Mobile Workforce will Reach 1.87 Billion People

Smartphones and media tablets are proven business technology tools within most work situations today. Mobile enterprise communication continues to grow across the globe, as more organizations make mobility software apps an essential component of their digital transformation agenda.

The global mobile workforce is forecast to increase from 1.45 billion in 2016 -- accounting for 38.8 percent of the overall workforce -- to 1.87 billion in 2022, thereby accounting for 42.5 percent of the workforce.

Mobile Internet Market Development Trends

Globalization and continued advancements in mobile internet technology and applications will increase levels of mobility among executives, consultants, sales professionals, and many other professions, according to the latest worldwide market study by Strategy Analytics.

"In overall terms, the traditional workforce in the United States and Canada have been aging, along with the world's population in general," said Gina Luk, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics. The younger employees that replace them in North American organizations will crave modern IT infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the workforce in the most economically developed parts of Europe are also aging and shrinking, and yet the workforce in most of Asia-Pacific (except Japan and South Korea), the Middle East, and Latin America are growing rapidly and getting younger. That being said, the growth of the mobile worker population in much of the African continent is also advancing.

"If we compare regional data, North America and Western Europe are still the leading regions in terms of mobile worker penetration," added Andrew Brown, executive director at Strategy Analytics. But other key regions of the world are advancing rapidly and may catch up sooner, rather than later.

Outlook for Ongoing Mobile App Adoption

The mobile workers in these developed regions adopt and use far more mobile technologies -- e.g. notebook PCs, smartphones, tablets, mobile device security, enterprise mobility management, business mobile applications, IoT, big data analytics, mobile cloud and virtual reality -- than any of the other regions.

According to the Strategy Analytic assessment, more businesses are actively taking advantage of the potential for telecommuting, and offering employees flexible working environments. This pervasive trend will continue into the foreseeable future.

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