Employees value ability to choose their work device

Nearly nine in 10 employees from countries including Australia would be willing to sacrifice part of their salary if their employer let them choose their work device, a new survey has found.

The survey, conducted by Vanson Bourne and Apple enterprise management company Jamf, found that the ability to choose their own devices is becoming increasingly important to employees.

Three quarters of respondents say they would be more likely to stay at a company — and 70% say they would be more likely to join a company — if they could choose their own devices. More than nine in ten respondents (91%) report benefits from an employee choice program, including increased productivity, positivity and feeling more valued.

On the flip side, 66% of respondents said being forced to use a device they did not choose would negatively impact their perception of the organisation.

But despite the strong employee preference for choice, only 40% of respondents surveyed report their organisation allows them to pick their own devices.

IT decision-makers report that barriers to offering employee choice include difficulty in effectively managing different laptops (41%), supporting different operating systems (39%), time (38%) and cost (37%) associated with offering individual work technology packages.

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