Mapping the Mobile eWorkforce in Europe

Instead of the home becoming a near-permanent second workplace, weface a situation where much work has become more locationally flexible,and workers settle down temporarily wherever it suits their job, tasks andpersonal preferences best, all the time staying connected to the networksthey need for their work. For many, the home has been turned into a touchdownoffice, together with a (potentially infinite) number of other locationswhere work can – and increasingly does – take place. We are callingthe people who practice this way of working mobile eWorkers. While lifestylemagazines are bristling with futuristic depictions of "anywhere, anytime"work, surprisingly little statistical data exists about the actual sizeand structure of this section of the EU workforce. Moreover, there is onlylimited understanding of which workers are most involved in mobile activities.Certainly, ICT-enabled mobility does not affect all workers to thesame extent (Valenduc et al. 2000), as is sometimes indicated in futuristdepictions. A differentiated view is necessary in order to identify futurechallenges for social cohesion and the health of the labour market.