(This post originally appeared on Forbes)
Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
1 — 70% of people globally work remotely at least once a week, study says.
More than two-thirds of professionals worldwide work away from the office at least once every week, according to a study by Luxembourg-based serviced office provider IWG. The study also found that 53 percent telecommute for at least half of the week. IWG said the study related to full-time employees rather than self-employed people or contractors—and that technology was the primary driver of changing perceptions around locations and working hours. (Source: CNBC)
Why this is important for your business:
Working from home – or remotely – is fast becoming a necessity and not just a perk that should be offered to your employees. Most of my clients have invested in cloud-based technologies that allow their workers to work while out of the office. Have you?
2 — Robot boats are propelling one of China’s hottest startups.
A freezer-tested boat drone is mapping the ocean floor in China. The ‘Snow Dragon’ icebreaker is setting up China’s fifth Antarctic research station and using the drones for its work. What was a university project has now turned into China’s largest unmanned surface vessel company, which has sparked the interest of some of the country’s biggest venture capitalists. (Source: Business Times)
Why this is important for your business:
We hear so much about autonomous cars and trucks, but did you know there’s a growing industry of driverless water vehicles too? Using boats as drones could have an enormous impact on shipping, tourism, fishing and other small businesses that rely on the water for their livelihood.
3 — Study: developers are more likely to be self-employed in the UK than anywhere else.
Nearly 12 percent of the coders based in the UK and Ireland work for themselves. According to Stack Overflow, this is higher than the US (7 percent) and the global average (10 percent). (Source: The Next Web)
Why this is important for your business:
One theory of what’s driving this is that, outside of major cities such as London, job opportunities for tech employers get scarcer. As a result, talented coders looking for a challenging and well-paid position often have to create their own. So if you’re looking for a UK based developer for your project, don’t be surprised if he or she works independently.
4 — One-third of employers use decade-old payroll technology.
According to a new survey by Kronos of nearly 1,000 payroll professionals from SMBs in a variety of industries, one-third of employers are using payroll technology that is at least 10 years old. (Source: Pymnts.com)
Why this is important for your business:
These outdated, manual processes and legacy payroll solutions limit a payroll department’s ability to track and report key performance indicators (KPIs) and also affect their ability to keep up with today’s speed of modern business.
5 — Comet grabs $12.8 million for its engineering freelancer platform.
French startup Comet is building a marketplace of talented tech and data freelancers as well as companies seeking engineers and teams for a specific project—and has just raised a $12.8 million funding round with Otium Venture and Daphni. (Source: Tech Crunch)
Why this is important for your business:
The company, which is currently working with 1,700 freelancers, allows firms to get contractors on demand, without having to scan through hundreds of profiles.
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