Partner Article

Heatwave homeworkers

A recent poll by online freelance marketplace PeoplePerHour studying Britain’s homeworking habits, has revealed that one in five of those working from home join video conferences whilst wearing pyjama bottoms and a further 10% wear jogging bottoms. The research follows new figures published by the ONS last month showing that record numbers of people now work from home, a total of 13.9% of the workforce or 4.2 million people.

Of the 1200 people polled, nearly a quarter (24%) said they have been working out in the garden during Britain’s sunny weather and a third plan to get out in the sunshine during the forthcoming heatwave.

One in ten women surveyed felt they had or were developing an addiction to e-flirting, perhaps due to a lack of face to face interaction with colleagues during the day. Water cooler conversation and flirtation is being replaced with social media platforms, dating apps and mobiles.

22% found resisting the temptation to eat extra snacks a huge struggle and nearly half of all people polled said they find themselves eating at least 400 extra calories during their work day. A surprising 5% claim to have gained 3 lbs in the few first months of working from home. 12% reported a crumb covered laptop or sticky keys as a result of eating and typing at the same time.

Daytime TV proved to be a popular distraction for home workers in the UK where 14% say they have caught part of an episode of Jeremy Kyle while working and another 12% admitted to catching up with their favourite series on Netflix.

Despite the distractions at home, 78% of those surveyed said they get as much done or more done at home than they ever would have in the office just at different times of the day or with a less strict working pattern. Just 7% said they have missed a deadline or not produced work to the highest standard because of an interruption when at home.

With many different advantages coming from working at home the most popular seemed to be the lack of commute with 32% of men and 26% of women citing it as the main benefit of not working in an office. 28% of women felt the flexibility to spend extra time with their children was the main draw while another 18% thought the real perk was not having to put makeup on.

Top five benefits of working from home according to women

Flexibility to spend time with children 28%

No need to commute daily. 26%

No need to wear make-up 18%

Freedom to exercise 9%

House Cleaning 5%

Top 5 benefits of working from home according to men.

No need to commute daily 32%

Not having to shave. 14%

Increased productivity due to less interruptions 11%

Avoiding office politics 8%

More frequent tea breaks. 4%

Xenios Thrasyvoulou, Founder and CEO of PeoplePerHour comments:

“As more employers than ever are offering flexible or remote working it seems that Brits are getting used to the freedom that working from home provides and the ability to dictate their own schedule. Most encouragingly, productivity does not seem to suffer and targets are achieved all without the watchful eye of a boss.”

“In fact stressful environments are a common cause for a less productive team in the workplace, so there is a great argument for encouraging more employees to take ownership of their own role, allowing them ownership and bosses to stop micromanaging.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by VP .