Whatsapp the top pick for Hong Kong’s remote workers who need to stay in touch

Messaging app Whatsapp and file sharing tool Dropbox are the most popular remote working tools among Hong Kong workers, according to a global survey on remote working habits.

More than 90 per cent of 365 workers in the city surveyed by serviced office firm Regus reported using Whatsapp when working outside the office, while Dropbox was used by 72 per cent.

“The growth in instant messaging applications and document-sharing services in particular is playing an enormous role in helping more people to work flexibly,” said Michael Ormiston, country manager for Regus in Hong Kong.

Globally, the survey of 44,000 senior business people in more than 100 countries found 86 per cent had used at least one tool for remote working in the previous month. Dropbox was the most commonly used file sharing tool globally at 56 percent, followed by Google Drive at 43 per cent.

In mainland China, however, Microsoft’s remote desktop was the most commonly used remote file sharing tool, at 34 per cent. Access to many Google products is blocked in China.

For communicating when working remotely, the survey found that Skype was the most popular service globally at 60 per cent, followed by Facebook Messenger, used by 48 percent of respondents.

In East Asia, each market has its own preferred messaging tool. In Hong Kong, 93 per cent used Whatsapp, while in mainland China WeChat came out on top at 95 per cent. Line was the most popular service in Taiwan and Japan at 91 per cent and 66 per cent respectively.

While working outside the office has become the norm in many places, concern over the erosion of employees’ home life has seen some companies take action. In 2012, German car manufacturer Volkswagen blocked Blackberry servers from sending emails 30 minutes after a shift ended and then reactivate 30 minutes before staff returned to work.