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Recruiting, supporting and (most importantly) retaining a workforce is no picnic. Especially in today’s competitive market. The 2014 Dell Global Evolving Workforce Study identifies six major indicators for IT managers, human resource professionals and business decision makers to enable them to build a sustainable workforce.

I’ll give you the highlights here. For the full curriculum, head over to the joint press release by Dell and Intel.

Gadgets vary for a reason

• employees are using multiple devices everywhere
• of those who use desktops, more than half also use another gadget to get their work done
• tablets and 2-in-1 laptops cannot be solely relied upon (i.e. are often used in conjunction with other devices)
• tablet and 2-in1 adoption is on the rise
• performance was the top priority for employees when asked about the preferred capabilities of their tools
• 62% still regard the desktop computer as essential in the swing of work
• desktops are mostly found in financial services, public healthcare and government

All hail the office

• the office still is the primary place of work
• employees in developed markets are spending 32 hours per week in the office
• employees in emerging markets spend 26 hours
• 35% work in public places on average two hours per week
• an average four hours per week are spent working at an external location
• 76 percent feel they work best at their desktops (but at the same time 48 percent indicate they are frequently interrupted)
• one in five employees wear headphones to fend off distractions

Remote working versus office time

• 52 percent believe working from home yields equal or even better results (than working in the office)
• 4 out of 10 employees in China, India, Turkey and UAE believe remote working is bad for productivity
• of those who do work from home, half say they are more productive
• of the other half, 36 percent think they are just as productive at home as they are in the office
• 30 percent sleep more, 40 percent drive less and 46 percent feel less stress
• negative aspects of remote working include distractions from spouses, children, parents and pets in the home, less exercise, and more munching

Work life takes a back seat to personal life

• 64% conduct business at home after hours
• employees in emerging countries are increasingly expected to be accessible at home via email
• executives can afford to blend work and personal life the most (no surprise there)
• executives use personal technology for work more frequently than other employees (again, fairly obvious)

Newer tech means better communication, more productivity

• 1 in 4 staffers would jump head first in a new role if that role promised a better device to work with
• media and entertainment people are the most likely to quit over poor tech
• employees in emerging markets expect to work with the best technology
• 76% said tech has had an influence on their work in the past year
• 46% say their productivity and communication has been significantly improved

Humans are still centerpiece

• more than 90% agree that tech works wonders in the workplace
• most employees agree that tech will evolve to improve their workday even more
• voice recognition will replace the keyboard, according to 92% of those polled
• 87% expect to use hand gestures instead of the mouse in the near future
• only 34% think their job will be fully automated in the future
• emerging markets rely on technology more than developed ones where human presence still plays a major role