By Adam Bloodworth
Ever since the pandemic the conversation has rattled on about the benefits and setbacks of remote working. Increased flexibility, it turns out, has a downside: loneliness.
A new survey by Promoleaf has revealed that more than a third of female remote workers (39 per cent) feel lonely working from home, and a much higher rate of 53 percent of men.
Another survey by Officevibe showed the value of workplace friendships. It found that 70 per cent of British employees think workplace friendships are crucial for being happy at work.
Promoleaf discovered that remote workers are also worried about how their in-office co-workers view the work-from-home cohort. 44 per cent of those surveyed thought they were at an inherent disadvantage when it came to making friends compared to their colleagues who were based in-office.
This is up from their 2021 survey, which showed that 38 per cent believed remote working was a disadvantage to forming friendships.
It’s not all downbeat, though. Brits have been finding fresh ways to use their ‘working from home’ time.
One in six Londoners have admitted to having sex whilst they should be working, fresh research shows, as employers across the capital look to stiffen up on hybrid working rules.
The data, which was published by LifeSearch, shows that more widely across the UK 1.6 million workers have admitted to getting ‘between the sheets’ between Zoom calls.
However the majority of Londoners tend to use their time at home on less steamy activities such as household chores – with 33 per cent doing loads of laundry and 20 per cent doing an online food shop.
Read more: Even if the pandemic hadn’t happened, we would have all ended up working remotely
Read more: ‘Working’ from home: Laundry, sex and side hustles distract hybrid Londoners from the day job
