Survey data has uncovered that almost a quarter of Gen Z (generation Z) hybrid workers in the UK are guilty of gaming on the clock.
TonerGiant surveyed 2,000 hybrid workers to find out what the UK’s workforce is really getting up to when working from home.
16% of participants admitted that they’ve played video games during the day when working from home in the past year. However, amongst Gen-Z employees this is much more common, with nearly a quarter (23%) of hybrid workers between the ages of 18-24 confessing to gaming on the clock.
Male employees are almost twice as likely to game during the day – 24% of men admitted to this behaviour compared to 11% of women.
The data suggests that workers living in Scotland are the most likely to game during working hours, more so than any other region in the UK, with 23% admitting to doing so within the last year. That’s 7% higher than the national average.
On the contrary, employees in Yorkshire and the Humber appear to be less interested in picking up their consoles in favour of their laptops, with just 9% of local participants gaming whilst working from home in the past year.
“Despite the fact that a number of hybrid workers admit to gaming on the clock, studies suggest that performance is not impacted by working from home. There are many benefits of the hybrid model for staff too, with other reports indicating that workers adhering to this model are happier employees.”
Stuart Deavall, TonerGiant
Not only are staff gaming on the clock, but 82% of UK hybrid workers admit to watching TV when working from home.
TonerGiant quizzed the 2,000 hybrid workers on a number of additional working from home confessions, such as sleeping and having sex on the clock. It was discovered that male workers are 10% more likely to exhibit these unprofessional traits than their female colleagues.
Commenting on the findings, Stuart Deavall from TonerGiant said: “Working from home has become a staple part of work culture in the UK, and comes with a lot of benefits. However, without your colleagues around to hold you accountable, and the many distractions which may be laying around your home, the temptation to procrastinate naturally rises.”
“According to our data, nearly a quarter (24%) of male hybrid workers are guilty of gaming on the clock whilst working from home, which is almost double the amount of women who admitted to this. The statistic is consistent with our general findings that male members of staff are 10% more likely to exhibit unprofessional traits than females when working from home.
“We also found that Gen-Z workers, and staff living in Scotland, are the most likely to pick up a games console during working hours.
“Despite the fact that a number of hybrid workers admit to gaming on the clock, studies suggest that performance is not impacted by working from home. There are many benefits of the hybrid model for staff too, with other reports indicating that workers adhering to this model are happier employees.”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
