There are many reasons why Bangalore remains the startup capital of India. And one of those is that the young here are workaholics, and the lines between their personal and professional lives are blurring fast.
Market expansion advisory firm Zinnov has come up with numbers that, the organisation contends, point to this trend. About 49 per cent of respondents to a recent Zinnov study in the 21-30 age bracket use tablets for work. This is reckoned to be signify a younger generation that is leaning towards workaholism. This is reiterated by the fact that 60 per cent of all men and women use tablets to access emails, with more percentage of men than women using tablets for work.
This, the study argues, shows that the line between professional and personal lives of individuals is slowly fading and the young workforce is keen on being able to work round-the-clock. This is the main reason why the younger lot is looking at the tablet as the device of choice.
Surveying over 850 consumers who currently use, or have used tablet devices in the past, the study offers a detailed analysis of drivers and enablers of the market in the city. This study was conducted among individuals across ages, gender, marital status and professions.
The findings also indicate that young Bangaloreans do not mind making investments that help them perform better at work. A comparison between usage patterns of single and married individuals found that single users are 25 per cent more likely to use tablets at the workplace than married ones, and that they accord high preference to applications support on their tablets.
Software engineer Manasa Reddy is one such person. "Usage of tablets at Workplace is a great advantage in terms of cost, workforce mobility and status meetings. With a generation of faster browsing and nanosecond search results, an instant portable device is a boon. A few touches and we have all the content. I develop apps for devices and an instant result on the device makes it merrier," she says.
Another interesting finding was that 72 per cent of tablet owners in Bangalore are addicted to their devices, and tend to use them every single day. In fact, 53 per cent of young professionals in the age group of 21-30 are unable to let go of their tablets even while traveling and 63 per cent of them have admitted to using their tablet throughout the day, with no fixed time.
PR professional Pallavi Choudhary takes the argument forward, "People from the IT industry brought in the BYOD revolution into the workplace. But when it comes to creative fields like PR and advertising, usability increases 10 times. My field demands me to be on mails 24/7 and using social media on-the-go for promoting trends for my clients. Atablet is not a luxury but a necessity for me."
While the percentage of men that uses tablets at work is higher than that of women, 24 per cent of males are possessive about their devices, and do not share their tablets with anyone else. The percentage of lone female users of tablets is only half that number, at 12 per cent. Moreover, 28 per cent of unmarried respondents do not like sharing their tablets with anyone else, even amongst family or friends.
As a result of this addiction, social lives of individuals have also heavily moved into the digital world. With 66 per cent of women and 61 per cent men, connecting with friends through tablets, these devices are helping individuals catch up with their personal lives, while also being interlocked into their office lives.
And life is certainly easier, and lighter. Consultant Joshua Rozario explains, "My work requires me to travel and meet clients, and having an iPad has changed the way I do things. I use it to not only make one-on-one presentations, but also to large groups by connecting it to a projector. No more pen drives or laptops to carry. Lately, I've been able to pretty much run my office just using my iPad and iPhone."
Which type are you?
Based on their tablet usage patterns, the Zinnov study has classified users into three categories:
- Bookworms: Users who use the tablet mainly for reading news and books. The tablet is a direct substitute for a book or a newspaper
- Entertainment junkies: Users who primarily use the tablet as a source of entertainment. Activities involve playing games, social networking and watching movies
- Workaholics: Users who use the tablet as a work-utility device. It is mainly used to check emails, for office work, to pay bills, to shop online and to search for information
