November 23, 2010

87% want to be able to work from anywhere

Think technology should help make this happen

Canadian companies must consider alternative working structures and technologies in order to attract and retain top talent, according to the results of a new poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid and commissioned by Microsoft   Canada.

The survey reveals that three quarters of Canadians believe that businesses limit their access to the talent pool by not offering dispersed workforce options. In addition, nine out of 10 Canadians agree that they would rather not relocate for a job, according to the report. 

The report also found that 87 per cent of Canadians are hungry for technology that will help them get the job done from any location. Additionally, 84 per cent of Canadians polled feel that location can be a barrier from securing the best job, while 88 per cent of Canadians agree that technology should help people avoid the need to relocate for work.

"Canadian workers have historically been bound by the location of their employer. Today though, workers have become upwardly mobile and dispersed across a massive geographical area as the scope of business expands across borders," said   Dr. Kevin Stolarick, Research Director, Martin Prosperity Institute, Rotman School of Management. "Companies looking to compete in our global economy need to provide employees with the tools to embrace the globalization of business and communicate and collaborate in real time regardless of location." 

Technologies such as Unified Communications are enabling Canadian business to communicate and collaborate in real time, regardless of geographic boundaries. Microsoft Corporation has released Microsoft® Lync™, the next generation of Microsoft's Unified Communications platform which enables people to connect in new ways, anytime and virtually anywhere.

Microsoft Lync, formerly known as Office Communications Server, delivers a unified experience for both end users and IT by integrating enterprise voice (telephony), instant messaging and audio, video, and web conferencing into a single, integrated communications experience.

"Over the past five years Microsoft has been on a journey to transform communications through the power of software," said Vineet Parmar, Senior Product Manager, Unified Communications at Microsoft   Canada. "With the launch of Lync, Microsoft is enabling Canadian businesses to communicate and collaborate more effectively with employees, customers and partners through a single integrated client across the PC, phone and browser. At the same time, Lync offers IT the ability to help reduce costs by replacing PBX boxes with Lync while providing the choice to deploy on premise, in the Cloud, or a hybrid of both."