When we started the Work IQ research series we knew there was a shift taking place with workers, but what we didn’t know was the extent of this cultural shift. The Work IQ series has continued to uncover a new breed of worker that wants more mobility, flexibility, and ultimately, more choice when it comes to work.

It started when our first Work IQ survey found that not a single respondent, out of more than 1,00 people, aspire to work as a corporate executive. The second Work IQ survey found that modern workers are increasingly conducting business on the go, regularly working in two or more locations.

Now we are announcing the results of our newest survey, which has found that technology plays a big part of what is fueling workers’ desire for more mobility, choice and personalization at work. In a survey of more than 1,000 people in the U.S. and Canada, we found that 61% want to use a device that is more mobile than a desktop while at work. Additionally, a third of respondents now want to work for a company that allows them to use their own technology.

This increasing desire to create greater choice can also be seen in the technology preferences of today’s professionals. In this most recent Work IQ survey, we found that 65% of respondents claim that they want the rights to download, install, modify or otherwise control their work computer. The survey also found that 84% of respondents believe that technology is important to their professional success.

Insight from the third Work IQ survey also includes:

58% of respondents think their technology represents their personality.

Nearly half of the respondents think technology represents their personality more than their car.

Almost one-third are spending an hour or more a day on social media at work.

A quarter of respondents say they would not work for a company that didn’t allow social media at work.

A third of respondents saying they spend 1 - 4 hours on a smartphone or tablet each day.

Our Work IQ survey series has allowed us to unveil a new type of worker that wants to customize their work style, and they want to work for companies that allow them to do so. In this third survey, we clearly see that this shift includes opinions on technology and its importance to today’s professionals. Overall, the Work IQ brand has uncovered three pillars of today’s worker – style, location and technology.

Intelligent Office today released an infographic following their Work IQ survey, showing that modern workers want a new work style, and that the desire to climb the corporate ladder may have been replaced with the desire to be an entrepreneur.