New research reveals biggest time wasters among staff

In 2020, huge UK businesses took to remote work, and 78% of at-home or hybrid workers reported that their work-life balance improved.

A new survey by Reboot Digital PR Agency, was conducted to find out how much time people waste working from home versus in person. The survey looked at 5,265 UK workers aged 18-65.

According to the results of the survey:

• In-person employees waste up to 4.26 hours per week on non-work-related activities.
• People who work from home exclusively waste 41% less paid time than in-person workers, at just 2.5 hours per week.
• Socialising takes up 19.89% of non-work activities, with in-person workers spending over 2.5 times more time socialising (14.32%) than their WFH peers (5.57%).
• Social media is a top time waster across the board, making up 35.27% of non-work related activities. At-home employees use up 12.04% of their working hours on social media, while in-person workers use 23.23% of their work time scrolling.
• At-home (11.09%) and in-person (19.91%) employees admit to shopping online, sleeping, playing computer games, and job hunting during working hours.
• 6.49% of all workers admitted to sex during working hours. Those working from home said sex takes up 5.09% of non-work activities (approx. 3.4 minutes a week), while in-person workers spend 1.4% of their wasted time, or 3.6 minutes a week, engaging in sexual activity.

Debbie Walton, Editor at TALiNT Partners commented: “While I do feel I am far more productive while working at home, there is something to be said about the camaraderie of the team when we’re all together. Collaborating and catching up makes the world of difference to team morale and I do feel invigorated when I leave the office on the days we’re all in together. All working models have their pros and cons. It’s important that everyone finds what works for them and is supported by their leadership teams.”