Viet Nam ranks third in Asia-Pacific in the Microsoft New World of Work Index. Indonesia achieved the highest score to finish first while Taiwan stands at the last place. — Source: Microsoft

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Only 38 per cent of the workers in small- and medium-sized businesses in 10 Asia-Pacific countries are assigned mobile devices for work, a recent study has found.

US technology giant Microsoft surveyed more than 2,000 workers, including 200 from Viet Nam, for the Microsoft New World of Work index based on people, places and technology. The index provides insights into the workers' current work and life needs and the factors that prevent them from thriving.

The mean score for the Asia-Pacific countries was 40 out of 100. Taiwan had the lowest score of 21, while Indonesia achieved the highest score of 62. Viet Nam was ranked third in the region, with a score of 44.33.

The survey found that 59 per cent of the respondents were not given enough devices to work efficiently in a modern working environment. At the same time, 99 per cent of them said they were required to be on call outside working hours (after 5pm) in order to do their work effectively.

In Viet Nam, 99 per cent of employees are required to work outside of office hours (after 5 p.m.).

Sixty-six per cent of the respondents said they needed to be present in their office to have access to important equipment or tools, while 36 per cent had to be in the office to access important information. Only 34 per cent of the respondents believed they were productive outside the office, such as at home, at customer sites or in public places.

In Viet Nam, 80 per cent of the respondents said they used four or five productivity tools, including email, document collaboration, file sharing and virtual meetings.

Microsoft Vietnam General Director Vu Minh Tri said small- and medium-sized enterprises accounted for more than 90 per cent of the businesses in Asia and 93 per cent of the businesses in Viet Nam.

"We conducted the survey to better understand changes in the way of living and working of employees in the Asia-Pacific region. Technology innovation is essential to help them increase their effectiveness at work. The companies still need a corporate culture, policies, infrastructure and the ability to cooperate to remove obstacles to initiatives in order to boost their competitiveness," he said. — VNS