Survey: 82% of UK WFH watch TV
August 18, 2023
Survey data from TonerGiant has uncovered that 82 per cent of UK hybrid workers admit to watching TV when working from home. Men are 5 per cent more likely to watch TV compared to women and watch 19 more minutes per day, on average.
Streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ are most regularly deployed on screens, but popular content for home workers also include daytime shows like Countdown, Come Dine With Me, Loose Women and Homes Under the Hammer.TonerGiant surveyed 2,000 hybrid workers to find out what the UK’s workforce gets up to when working from home. Some 16 per cent of participants admitted that they’ve played video games during the day when working from home in the past year. However, amongst Gen-Z employees this is much more common, with nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of hybrid workers between the ages of 18-24 confessing to gaming on the clock. Male employees are almost twice as likely to game during the day – 24 per cent of men admitted to this behaviour compared to just 11 per cent of women. The data suggests that workers living in Scotland are the most likely to game during working hours, more so than any other region in the UK, with 23 per cent admitting to doing so within the last year. That’s 7 per cent higher than the national average. On the contrary, employees in Yorkshire and the Humber appear to be less interested in picking up their consoles in favour of their laptops, with just 9 per cent of local participants gaming whilst working from home in the past year. Based on the most recent sales statistics, the chances are workers will be playing FIFA 23, Hogwarts Legacy or Pikmin 4.
TonerGiant quizzed the 2,000 hybrid workers on a number of additional working from home confessions, such as sleeping and having sex on the clock. It was discovered that male workers are 10 per cent more likely to exhibit these unprofessional traits than their female colleagues.
Stuart Deavall from TonerGiant commented: “Working from home has become a staple part of work culture in the UK, and comes with a lot of benefits. However, without your colleagues around to hold you accountable, and the many distractions which may be laying around your home, the temptation to procrastinate naturally rises.” According to our data, nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of male hybrid workers are guilty of gaming on the clock whilst working from home, which is almost double the amount of women who admitted to this. The statistic is consistent with our general findings that male members of staff are 10 per cent more likely to exhibit unprofessional traits than females when working from home.” We also found that Gen-Z workers, and staff living in Scotland, are the most likely to pick up a games console during working hours.”“Despite the fact that a number of hybrid workers admit to gaming on the clock, studies suggest that performance is not impacted by working from home. There are many benefits of the hybrid model for staff too, with other reports indicating that workers adhering to this model are happier employees,” concluded Deavall.