Survey: Remote Workers Do Other Stuff While on the Clock

Photo: 10'000 Hours / DigitalVision / Getty Images

A new survey shows a lot of remote workers are doing household chores while on the job.

SurveyMonkey polled over three-thousand full-time workers in the U.S. last month and found that nearly half of those who work from home are doing laundry and other items on their to-do list.

Multitasking during Zoom calls is another common pastime.

Nearly a third of remote and hybrid workers said they used the bathroom while on a call while 21% said they surfed the web and scrolled through social media, 14% went on online shopping sprees, 12% did laundry and 9% cleaned the kitchen.

About one third said they run errands while remote working and about 17% said they watch TV or play video games.

In a finding that may shock some, 4% admit they fall asleep (nap) and 3% take a shower.

"Employees are making their own rules to accommodate the demands of high-pressure work environments," said Wendy Smith, senior manager of research science at SurveyMonkey. "One thing we uncovered was that what you might consider 'off-the-books behavior' is widespread."

And it's not just the rank-and-file as more than half of managers and 49% of executives multitask on work calls as well, according to Smith.


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