The Skillcast Working from Home Insights Survey was conducted to find out how employers can engage better with their employees working from home (WFH) and/or returning to work (RTW). Fieldwork was conducted by YouGov polling 4,002 employees in Britain. The results are based on 1,983 respondents who confirmed that they are working from home all or most of the time.
Key findings from our Working from Home survey
The summary findings are listed below. Visit the links for detailed analysis and request data for your industry sector and company size.
- Working from home is hugely popular
68% would like to keep on doing WFH in the future, and 70% claim that they can be as productive when WFH as in the office. Find out what else WFH employees want - Working from home increases risks to corporate data
WFH is leaving companies vulnerable to data breaches, with 37% of employees leaving their PCs unlocked during breaks and 26% unable to prevent others from seeing their work or hearing work-related conversations. Find out more about the data protection risks of WFH
- Working from home creates health and safety concerns
Only 50% have a keyboard that is separate from their display screen (as required by HSE guidelines), only 36% work on a chair with back support, while only two thirds (68%) take regular breaks. More on the health and safety risks from WFH - Simple changes could improve working from home productivity
When asked what employers could do to improve their productivity, employees homeworking overwhelmingly chose a better table and chair (46%) ahead of trendy ideas like virtual parties (13%). More ways to improve homeworking productivity - Microsoft Teams is the collaboration tool of choice
Nine out of 10 (91%) of employees working from home all or most of the time report using videoconferencing apps to collaborate with colleagues. When asked which tool employees find most useful for collaborating with colleagues, Microsoft Teams (33%) is chosen more than twice as often as Zoom (12%) or Skype (14%)
- 45% of employees stated their employer isn't providing all the resources needed
is not always providing all of the necessary resources: laptop/desktop, software, access to data and documents for WFH - consequently 33% are using their own equipment
Find out which resources employers are failing to provide - Millennials feel more challenged by WFH than older employees
More under 35's miss the socialising aspect of work (63%), the routine of the office (44%), staying motivated (59%). Even when it comes to internet/WiFi 38% of millennials report being challenged as opposed to 27% of the older workers.
Learn more about the ups and downs of WFH
About the YouGov fieldwork
The surveys were conducted by the international polling agency, YouGov between 24 April and 6 May 2020. YouGov polled 4,002 employees across business sectors, regions, and demographics. Of these, 2,019 participants were screened out of the survey as they were currently still working at their employer’s premises, or were on furlough, or currently not working.
The 1,983 participants qualified as working from home all or most of the time. Of these, 415 were working from home before the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and 1,567 were working from home as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The participants were asked their views on a range of topics about working from home, including benefits and challenges, productivity, taking breaks, use of technology and IT security.
This makes it the largest survey of its kind in the UK.
The results were analysed by Robust Insight, a third-party market research provider. Results are presented at an overall level and by sub-group – industry sector, region, demographics. For full results, including breakdown by sub-groups, write to insights@skillcast.com.
YouGov panel methodology
YouGov conducts its public opinion surveys online using something called Active Sampling for the overwhelming majority of its commercial work, including all nationally and regionally representative research. The emphasis is always on the quality of the sample, rather than the quantity of respondents.
When using Active Sampling, restrictions are put in place to ensure that only the people contacted are allowed to participate. This means that all the respondents who complete YouGov surveys will have been selected by YouGov, from our panel of registered users, and only those who are selected from this panel are allowed to take part in the survey.
Find out more on the YouGov panel methodology page.
Need more help with working from home compliance?
Working from home presents specific challenges to maintaining regulatory compliance. This is why your senior managers and compliance officers will need a resilient, scalable plan.
Our 3-step compliance training and assessment roadmap will help put your homeworking environment on a much stronger footing.
It includes a 10-minute training module for all staff, a 15-minute training module for managers and a self-assessment.
You can access all of these training aids for free, and they are available for roll-out as part of our Compliance Essentials Course Library.
Looking for more compliance insights?
If you'd like to stay up to date with best practices, industry insights and key trends across regulatory compliance, digital learning, EdTech, and RegTech news, subscribe to Skillcast Compliance Bulletin.
To help you navigate the compliance landscape, we have collated searchable glossaries of key terms and definitions across complex topics, including GDPR, Equality, Financial Crime and SMCR. We also track the biggest compliance fines, explaining what drives them and how to avoid them.
You can follow our ongoing YouGov research into compliance issues, attitudes and risk perceptions in the UK workplace through our Compliance Insights blogs.
Last but not least, we have 60+ free compliance training aids, including assessments, best practice guides, checklists, desk-aids, eBooks, games, handouts, posters, training presentations and even e-learning modules!
If you've any questions or concerns about compliance or e-learning, please get in touch.
We are happy to help!
