New survey reveals impact of extended lockdown on home working

With news of a lockdown extension, we've commissioned a national survey looking into the home working experience.

We surveyed 2,000 people and discovered that 37% are finding working from home is becoming increasingly difficult.

Meanwhile, 52% said they have got used to home working and don't mind the prospect of a longer lockdown period.

Workloads seem to be reducing for some, as after more than three weeks in lockdown 24% of respondents said they feel like work is drying up, while 17% say they spend fewer hours on work each week compared with pre-lockdown times and admit to feeling guilty about this. However, 12% said they are actually spending more hours working than they would in the office.

72% of home workers don't speak to colleagues for a full day

Working at home also seems to have reduced communication with work colleagues for most people, as 72% of those surveyed admitted they don’t speak to anyone from work for a full day and of these, almost a third (32%) said this lack of dialogue goes on for more than a day.

Lockdown seems to have blurred the boundaries between work and free time, as 73% said they are answering calls and emails after working hours. However, far from working in their pyjamas, 19% said they dress up properly to feel like they are going to work. In terms of getting ready for work, 42% said they get up about an hour before their work starts, 17% get up about 30 minutes before work and 5% get up around 10 minutes or less before work.

13% of workers already had a home office set up

Surprisingly, the experience of working from home has not been supported by many companies, with more than half (53%) of those surveyed saying their company didn’t provide anything to help them set up their home office and only 16% said they received vouchers or cash to buy what they need for this. Only 13% already had a home office set up at home, while 24% are using their living room as a home office, 15% the dining room and 12% their bedroom.

Commenting on the survey findings, Joanna Swash CEO here at Moneypenny said: "It’s clear that many companies are relying on their staff having a full home office to enable them to work from home and companies should be auditing the facilities their staff need and providing them. We also have research that  shows  that  1 in 10 UK businesses are still sending staff into the office to answer phone calls which is  not necessary when there are so many tech solutions available that don’t cost a fortune and can help provide efficient communications."