Survey reveals realities of locked down life for employees

A LinkedIn survey conducted by Hemel Hempstead-based audio visual specialists Digital Vision AV has revealed that Tiger King (28%), After Life (23%), Ozark (20.5%), and Killing Eve (20.5%) are the top boxset binge watches for employees during the COVID-19 lockdown. Biggest daily struggles As for the biggest daily struggles, the top challenge was “Too many distractions” (49%), followed by “Never being far from work” (31%), with “Lack of motivation”, “Lack of routine” and “Poor diet” (all 26%) cited as issues for one in four surveyed. “Wifi speed” (18%) was a frustration for almost a fifth of respondents, while “Loneliness” (13%) was an issue for more than one in ten. Other bugbears included “Family wanting your time while working”, “Not being able to deal with people face-to-face”, “Engaging with clients who feel they can’t risk spending money”, “Long hours on Zoom” and “Juggling childcare and work”. Most looking forward to When lockdown is lifted, almost half (49%) of survey respondents say they’re most looking forward to “Face-to-face contact with colleagues”, with “Avoiding my home fridge” cited by 10%, followed by “Chill time before and after work” (5%) and “Listening to podcasts on my morning commute” (5%) other popular answers. Downsides of lockdown life When questioned about what they are most missing from normal life, the answer from those surveyed was overwhelmingly “Hugging loved ones” (38%), followed by going out to restaurants (13%), holidays and travel (10%), going to the pub (10%) and theatre or cinema trips (8%). Unexpected upsides Asked “What’s been the best thing about working from home?” not having to travel was, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most popular response (64%). This was followed by “Having more time with the family” (54%), “Cost-savings” (49%), “No office politics” (26%) and “Being able to play my own music” (26%). Interestingly, one in five (20.5%) said they are more productive working from home. “Fewer interruptions” and “No aircon wars” were other common answers (each 15%). Other perks highlighted were “No meetings unless actually needed”, “Reduced anxiety levels” and “My dog”. While almost one in four respondents have kept themselves busy baking (23%), gardening (23%) or running (10%), more than a third (36%) said they hadn’t used lockdown to learn any new skills or hobbies as they’re “Happy as I am”. Biggest embarrassments As for video conferencing faux pas, “Bad hair” was most commonly cited (33%), followed by “Pets or children making an unexpected appearance” (21%), “Being late” (15%), “Still wearing pyjamas” (13%) and “Embarrassing objects being in view” (8%). (Now there’s an area begging to be probed more deeply). Winning the tech war With a battle for supremacy currently raging between the Microsoft Teams, Zoom Google Hangouts and WhatsApp video conferencing platforms, Zoom emerged the clear favourite in the survey with almost half (49%) of respondents using it on a day-to-day basis. Teams was the second most popular (23%), trailed by WhatsApp (8%) and Google Hangouts (5%). Pity the third of respondents who’ve been spending three or four hours a day in video conferences (33.3%) and the one in four (26%) who spend one or two hours a day in online meetings during lockdown. However, they’re fortunate compared to the 3% of people who spend more than five or six hours daily. In contrast, just one in five respondents spend less than an hour a day in video conferences. Video conferencing clangers Asked to spill the beans on the funniest thing they’ve seen someone do on a live video call, answers included: “Not turning their camera off and standing up wearing only their boxer shorts”, “Going to make a cup of tea and no one could hear anything over the noise of the kettle”, and “Someone trying to hide themselves eating but accidentally dropping their huge sub sandwich on the keyboard”. Finally, there were some interesting suggestions to the question, “Who would be your ideal lockdown housemate?” As well as the expected responses of “Wife/husband/partner/kids”, answers included the comedienne “Miranda Hart (such fun 😊)”, guitarist Bryan May, comedian Greg Davies, fitness guru Joe Wicks, actor Ricky Gervais, chef Gordon Ramsay, footballer John Barnes, neat freak Marie Kondo and, inexplicably, Sooty the glove puppet.

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