Fifty percent of employees in the UK do not think those below assistant manager positions should have remote access to company networks.
OneLogin, an innovator in Identity and Access Management on the cloud, has revealed a lack of trust within the remote workforces of UK businesses. The study reveals that 50 percent of those working full-time believe that general employees (below assistant manager level or equivalent) should be denied access to company networks from remote locations, both from personal devices (54 percent) but also company phones/laptops etc. (47 percent).
Furthermore, 27 percent think that remote access privileges should be for the sole use of senior managerial positions and above. The younger generation workforce is so familiar with the sense of being ‘plugged in’ at all times, so naturally they have the desire to want to work remotely as they see fit. These kind of distance-work opportunities are key to attracting new, fresh talent to their businesses.
Although there perhaps is a sense of distrust, in reality, employees do actually treat company data with its due care and sensitivity. Over 90 percent of employees said they would not share their passwords for company devices, this compared to 37 percent saying they would share their passwords to their own personal devices. 77 percent said they are the only ones who can access the electronics on which they use company networks.
Moreover, those surveyed revealed 38 percent would be worried about others gaining access to their work information more than their personal accounts for social media, 10 percent, and personal media etc. at 20 percent.
Ensuring work flexibility is not just important for catering to employees’ busy lifestyles, but also providing communication apps for the office provides the employees with a feeling of community.
OneLogin’s vice president of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region has stated that “the UK now has such a large percentage of its workforce working remotely and thus need constant access to their work intranet”. The vice president goes on to explain how UK companies need to build the essential trust with their workforce that comes with the responsibility of accessing sensitive company data.
One of the ways to achieve this is by using an access ports like Single Sign-On, which provides employees with a safe, encrypted connection to their company network, and peace of mind knowing that risk of a data breach is minimal.
