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Is there a lack of trust between UK employers and their remote workforce?
September 2016 by OneLogin
New research by OneLogin reveals a lack of trust in UK businesses and their remote workforces, with half of those in full-time work believing that employees below mid-manager level should not be granted remote access to the corporate network, from both work-owned devices (47 per cent) and personally-owned devices (54 per cent). In addition, 27 per cent believe remote access should only be granted to senior management and above. With the nation’s millennial workforce used to being constantly connected, and the majority wanting the option to work remotely all the time[1], employers need to ensure they are attracting this talent with their remote offerings.
Despite this apparent distrust, the reality is that these remote employees really do care about protecting work data. Over 90 per cent state they wouldn’t share passwords for work-owned devices, compared to over a third (37 per cent) of respondents who would readily share passwords to personally-owned devices. Almost eight in ten (77 per cent) admitted they are the only ones who have access to the device they use to access the corporate network.
Additionally, if those surveyed lost their phone, 38 per cent would be concerned about people accessing work data, coming before their social media accounts (10 per cent) and personal photos (20 per cent).
Catering to the needs of a remote workforce is not only important to facilitate flexible working for a dispersed workforce, but a further 85 per cent of respondents believe mobile business applications that facilitate this need, also create a sense of community within a business.
“The UK has fast become a nation of remote workers, who are constantly connected to the corporate network no matter where they are,” comments Per Stritich, VP of EMEA at OneLogin. “Whilst it is clear there is a misplaced trust deficit in the UK, the reality is employers need to overcome their concerns and start building trust with their increasingly security savvy workforce.”
“In order to maximise on corporate data trust, technologies such as Single Sign-On enable employees to access work data securely anywhere, from any device and at anytime. Leaving employers safe in the knowledge that sensitive work data is safe in the hands of their mobile enabled workforce”.
Research methodology
On behalf of One Login, Arlington Research questioned 2044 respondents (even split between the UK and the US) about their attitudes towards remote working, in May 2016. All respondents were in employment at the time of the study and there was an almost even split between different levels on employment (junior, mid, mid-manager – senior, and senior management and above).
