LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, today released some fun statistics about office tools and trends that are on the brink of becoming extinct.
In a survey titled ‘Office Endangered Species’, LinkedIn said the top three office tools targeted for extinction by 2017 among professionals in India are the tape recorder (73 per cent), standard working hours (60 per cent) and desktop computers (58 per cent).
LinkedIn surveyed 7,000 professionals globally, of which nearly 400 were from India.
Fax machines and Rolodexes would be a few things that will be seen in museum exhibits next to fossils.
The number-one office dream tool for Indians is a place in the office that provides natural sunlight (36 per cent) followed by a quiet place in the office where they are allowed to take a nap (25 per cent).
Hari V. Krishnan, Country Manager, LinkedIn India, “The findings of this survey establish that the average Indian workplace is evolving. With tools such as tablet computers, video conferencing and smart phones being featured on the list of must-haves, Indian companies and professionals are increasingly turning towards technology to assist their career growth. LinkedIn understands this and is continuously developing tools and features that are in sync with the needs of professionals and help them become more productive and successful. We recently announced our upgraded mobile platforms to ensure extending seamless LinkedIn experience to our members, wherever they are.”
According to professionals globally, the top 10 items and office trends that are becoming rare and could even disappear in the next five years are:
Tape recorders (79 per cent)
Fax machines (71 per cent)
The Rolodex (58 per cent)
Standard working hours (57 per cent)
Desk phones (35 per cent)
Desktop computers (34 per cent)
Formal business attire such as suits, ties, pantyhose (27 per cent)
The corner office for managers/executives (21 per cent)
Cubicles (19 per cent)
USB thumb drives (17 per cent)
Globally, professionals selected tablets (55 per cent), cloud storage (54 per cent), flexible working hours and smartphones (which tied at 52 per cent) as office tools that are becoming more ubiquitous. Professionals in the US selected tablets.