60% of workers have worn pyjamas while working remotely
By Maurice Garvey
PYJAMAS as a work uniform? A survey by Citywest firm Pure Telecom found that 60 per cent of Dublin respondents have worn pyjama bottoms while working remotely at least occasionally, with 33 per cent saying they do so most of the time or always.
The remote working survey of 1,000 Irish consumers was carried out by Censuswide on behalf of high-speed broadband and telecoms provider Pure Telecom.
Paul Connell, CEO Pure Telecom
It raised some interesting findings, but also found that for a large number of people working from home has been great craic.
The survey found that 40 per cent had an embarrassing episode during a work video call.
Of these, 26 per cent said a pet made an unexpected appearance during a call, 11 per cent said someone in their household walked undressed behind them, while 14 per cent were caught saying something rude when they thought the call was over or the mic was off.
Bizarrely, 3% of overall national respondents admitted to working from the toilet on occasion
More broadly, misbehaving children made cameo appearances during video calls for 8 per cent of total respondents while 13 per cent of total respondents cited their messy house as a source of embarrassment during a video work call.
The survey found 12 per cent of home working respondents nationally don’t miss their colleagues while 19 per cent claim to miss their colleagues, but not enough to make them want to return to the office.
Food topped the list of distractions (38 per cent of respondents) followed by kids or other household members (35 per cent).
Paul Connell, CEO, Pure Telecom, one of the thousands of people who have taken the office to his kitchen table, said the shift has created some amusing teething problems along the way.
“During times of stress, I always think it’s important to try and look on the more humorous side of things. Our survey, while uncovering some pressing issues for remote workers such as access to broadband, has also highlighted some of the more interesting quirks among those working from home.
“Who knows, maybe these findings will give people a bit of a lift. Given the circumstances, there should be a reasonable relaxation of the ‘seriousness’ that has defined the traditional office environment.
So what if your dog makes an on-screen appearance during a work Zoom call, or if the kids start acting up when you’re trying to close a deal.
Obviously, some of the findings are more embarrassing, and weirder, than others. But that’s ok, as this is the new reality.
“What matters is that workers are given every chance to make working-from-home work for them.
That includes access to high speed broadband, as well as the opportunity to establish their own work rhythm, without unnecessary reprimands from their employer.”
Pure Telecom has experienced 30 per cent increase in demand for broadband services since Covid-19, and last month signed a deal with BT Ireland worth up to €10 million, granting the firm access to SIRO’s nationwide high-speed fibre broadband network.
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