Employees are working remotely in their pyjamas

A quarter of home-workers — more than four million employees — are doing their job from bed or in their nightwear, and 40 per cent have toiled from the sofa, a report has found.

Many people are working from bed or in their pyjamas, the survey found.

About 18.5 million employees — almost three fifths of the country’s workforce — have worked from home since lockdown started.

Over half of home-workers say it has improved their quality of life, according to the study from uSwitch.com, with three fifths enjoying spending more time with their family, two fifths exercising more, and a third eating more healthily.

A total of 25 per cent say they have worked in their pyjamas, while six per cent admit they have carried out some essential office tasks while on the toilet.

Another quarter say they have worked in bed - with eight per cent saying they have opted to work in someone else’s bed - while 15 per cent opt to work outside, heading for their gardens or balconies.

Perhaps because of these things - or despite them - almost half of employees say they prefer working from home to being in the office.

However, half of working parents admit they are finding it difficult to juggle their job and home-schooling their children. This comes after education secretary John Swinney admitted that children could have to be schooled from home part time for a year due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Many home-workers are having difficulties with internet connectivity, with nearly two thirds reporting issues with their broadband or mobile signal. One in five have endured slow broadband, one in ten move rooms to get a better signal, and some have even resorted to leaning out of a window to make a call.

Despite a quarter of employees claiming to be more productive at home, some are succumbing to distractions while on work calls.

One in five has muted a call to have a conversation with someone else, a tenth have done the housework, and one in ten have put work colleagues on mute to watch TV. Although the most popular activity is making a cup of tea, with a quarter admitting to doing so.

Video calls have become a regular part of the working day during lockdown, with three quarters of home-workers taking part in them. Four in ten home-workers admit to making more of an effort with their appearance before a video call, while a fifth have taken part in a video while secretly still in their nightwear.

Meanwhile, 15 per cent of people have even pretended that their Wi-Fi connection was too poor to avoid turning on their camera.

Nick Baker, broadband expert at Uswitch.com, said: “Working from home is proving a positive experience for a lot of people, with a majority of employees saying it has improved their quality of life.

“We are all making the best of the unusual situation, and many of us are working from beds, sofas and dining tables as we try to make our jobs fit around our household routines.”

He added: “However, keeping connected is proving more important than ever before, and almost two thirds of us have struggled with our broadband or mobile signal as we try to adapt to our new way of working.”

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