Press release

Motus Report Reveals that Mobile Work Saves Employees and Employers $18K Annually

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Motus, the definitive leader in reimbursement solutions for businesses with mobile-enabled workforces, today released a new report, Trends in Mobile Work: The Emergence of BYOD. The report reveals that the mobile-enabled workforce has grown 11 times faster than the total workforce since 2005, drastically changing the nature of work in the last decade and a half. With more than 92 million mobile-enabled workers now in the U.S. alone, companies are finding new ways to cut the burden of managing assets that are seldom used. These include office space and mobile devices. By embracing remote work policies, the report found that employers can save over $11,000 annually per mobile-enabled worker, while an employee can save as much as $7,000 per year by working remote.

Companies have increasingly adopted bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs to reduce the number of company-owned assets requiring management. These programs allow employees to use their own devices for work, not only improving satisfaction, but also increasing worker productivity by 34%.

“Today’s mobile-enabled workforce is larger than ever, with a growing number of companies allowing use of personal devices to make balancing the demands of work and personal life easier,” said Ken Robinson, market research analyst for Motus. “As more companies embrace BYOD programs, it’s important for them to accurately and fairly reimburse employees for the business use of their personal devices.”

While there are several different approaches to managing a BYOD program, the report explains that most in use today do not reimburse employees accurately. For example, in paid BYOD programs, most companies simply add a flat stipend onto an employee’s paycheck to cover estimated expenses. By only estimating expenses and not basing the amount on usage and other variables, companies over- or under-reimburse employees. This can leave employers exposed to labor-related lawsuits.

“Business use of personal cell phones may seem trivial, but recent trends in employment law require employers to recognize even small tasks performed by employees on their personal devices as work and this is an area of growing interest by plaintiffs’ lawyers,” said Danielle Lackey, Chief Legal Officer at Motus. “In response, companies need to develop a reimbursement policy that recognizes all usage of personal devices for work purposes. At Motus, we understand how important it is to not only make mobile reimbursement easy, but also fair, accurate and compliant for everyone.”

To be accurate, the report advises companies to set up BYOD programs that account for all elements of the cost to own or operate a device. This includes the purchase price of the device, regional taxes, device insurance and carrier activation fees.

Additional findings in the Trends in Mobile Work report include:

  • As much as 70% of U.S. employees don’t sit behind a desk every day.
  • Mainstream office employees (e.g. analysts, professionals and administrators) are the largest group of mobile workers, with 66% working at home or at other remote locations.
  • Nearly half (46%) of U.S. companies have deployed at least six mobile apps. A staggering number (79%) of companies plan to introduce at least one more mobile app within the next year.

To access the full report, please visit: https://resources.motus.com/mobile-device-management/2019-mobile-workforce-report.

About Motus

Motus is the definitive leader in solutions for businesses with mobile-enabled workers and fleets of any size. The Motus technology platform simplifies both mileage and mobile device reimbursement with proprietary software that calculates personalized and compliant reimbursements for each employee, while improving employee productivity and reducing the overall costs of mobility. The company’s deep insights, captured across the world’s largest retained pool of drivers, also underpins the annual Internal Revenue Service (IRS) business mileage standard, the amount an individual can deduct for business vehicle expenses. For more information please visit www.motus.com or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.