Pure Telecom survey shows funny side of remote working

The findings of a survey by Pure Telecom, Ireland’s high-speed broadband and telecoms provider, highlight the funny side of working from home in Ireland.

The survey, published today, found that 61% of Mayo respondents have worn their pyjama bottoms while working remotely at least occasionally, with 22% saying they do most of the time or always.

The survey of 1,000 Irish consumers was carried out by Censuswide on behalf of Pure Telecom. The overall national results found that the habitual wearing of pyjama bottoms during the remote working day was more prevalent among female respondents. Overall, this trend was highest in the 18-23 demographic, with 17% of these respondents claiming to always wear pyjama bottoms while working from home, with 32% of 18-23-year-olds claiming to do so most of the time.

Pure Telecom’s survey also found that 40% of total national respondents have had an embarrassing episode during a work video call. Of these who have, 26% said a pet had unexpectedly made an appearance during a call, 14% said they had forgotten to change into appropriate clothing before a call, 11% said someone in their household walked undressed behind them, while 14% were caught saying something rude when they thought the call was over or the mic was off.

More broadly, misbehaving children made cameo appearances during video calls for 8% of total respondents, while 13% of total respondents cited their messy house as a source of embarrassment during a video work call.

The survey findings also highlight a sense of ambivalence among total national respondents when it comes to being reunited with co-workers or returning to the office. The survey found that 12% of home working respondents nationally don’t miss their colleagues while working remotely. Additionally, 19% claim to miss their colleagues, but not enough to make them want to return to the office.

Food topped the list of distractions for remote workers – 38% of total national respondents identified food and eating as a source of distraction during the remote working day.

In addition, 35% of total respondents cited their children or other members of their household as a distraction while working from home, while the television was a distraction for 28% of respondents.

Paul Connell, CEO of Pure Telecom, said: “While the shift towards remote working has been very challenging for workers nationwide, there have been 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. It also illustrated the different areas of the house that respondents have worked from. Astonishingly, 3% of total respondents acknowledged that they had worked from the toilet, while perhaps more understandably, 25% said they have worked from a sofa or armchair, and 8% from the garden – weather permitting!”

Mr. Connell added: “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 okay, 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 says it has experienced a 30% increase in demand for broadband services since the Covid-19 outbreak, and last month signed a deal with BT Ireland worth up to €10 million. The deal grants Pure Telecom access to SIRO’s nationwide high-speed fibre broadband network.