The insights are in: Remote working during the coronavirus pandemic

Almost overnight, it feels as if the world has turned upside down. 

Due to the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, many people are now working remotely who wouldn’t have been before. And while there are plenty of amazing guides to working from home (check out Sanctus’ guide for tips on managing your mental health and productivity), there’s less data on how people are actually working from home in the midst of a pandemic. What do people think are the biggest challenges? Which tools do they use to make things easier? We decided to find out. 

Here at Attest, we’re in the unique position of having access to 100M+ consumers, across 80 different markets. What that means is a lot of quality first-party data, really quickly – and we’ve been using our own platform to provide consumer insights in a time of unprecedented uncertainty. For survey results, consumer trends, and interesting stats sent straight to your inbox weekly, you can sign up for our Coronavirus Digest newsletter here:

To find out more about how people are working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, we ran a survey to 500 working-age US residents in New York & California from 16th to 19th March. These are the results:

First of all, how many people in New York & California are actually working from home regularly?

In order to participate in this survey, respondents were qualified based on beginning to work from home regularly as a result of the coronavirus (i.e. their job isn’t usually remote full-time). But looking at the answers for the qualifying question, the overall results are interesting – an almost equal number of people said that they’re either working from home every day as a result of the coronavirus (21.2%), or still going out to work regularly (21%). A further 10.8% said that they’re not currently working due to the virus. 

How would you describe your current work set-up? 

What do people wear when working from home? 

For a lot of people, working from home isn’t the norm. The pandemic has forced a lot of people to adapt to remote-working quickly, find the best ways to stay productive, and form new habits. For those who are now working from home regularly as a result of the coronavirus, the majority are opting for casual clothing (57.2%). 25.8% prefer to wear smart clothing, even when they’re not leaving the house, and 16.2% said they’re succumbing to the temptation of pyjama-wearing. 

What do you usually wear when working from home?

What challenges are people facing when it comes to remote-working during a pandemic?

Working from home, while a privilege and an asset when it comes to slowing virus spread, certainly has its downsides. For residents of New York & Cali, missing coworkers (49.8%) and missing routine (48.8%) are the two biggest challenges. 28.6% of respondents are feeling lonely. A very small percentage (2.6%) said that there are no challenges at all with working remotely. 

What are the biggest challenges of working from home?

What things do people like about working from home regularly?

It’s not all doom and gloom – there are plenty of things that people enjoy about remote work. The majority of people (56.8%) cited spending more time with their partner or family as the biggest pro. 53.8% are a fan of not commuting, and 41.2% said they enjoy spending more time with their pets. 

What do you enjoy most about working from home?

What tools do people rely on to work from home successfully?

Working remotely is easier now than it’s ever been, largely thanks to the variety of tools we have access to. It’s a win for video-conferencing tools: a massive 59.2% of respondents said they use Google Hangouts to collaborate with their team, and 51.4% said Zoom. Virtual stand-up tool Geekbot is used by 21% of respondents, and 19.6% use collaborative whiteboard platform Miro. 

Do you use any of these tools to collaborate with your team?

People tend to use a lot of different tools for different tasks – but which do they think are the most useful? Google Hangouts is the standout here, with 40.8% of people naming it the most useful tool for them and their team. 

Which of these tools is the most useful for you and your team?

How are we changing the services we use? 

We need to limit our time spent out of the house, which means we’re upping the ante on the services that keep us entertained at home. 74.5% of people are using Netflix more than usual, and 35.5% are ordering from Uber Eats more frequently. 

Are you using any of these services more frequently than usual?

Though these are scary times, they also give us a glimpse at humans’ ability to adapt. In uncertain times, consumer behaviour changes rapidly and unexpectedly – but we’re keeping tabs on them. 

For data on the British public’s initial reaction to the coronavirus, check out this blog. We talked through those results, and a lot more, in our recent coronavirus webinar, which you can now watch on catch-up: 

If you’re interested in using the Attest platform to understand how consumer behaviour is changing right now, and what it means for your business, get in touch with our team.