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38% of Remote Workers Work From Bed (axios.com) 93

Posted by BeauHD from the more-you-know dept.
Forget the home office -- 45% of American teleworkers regularly work from a couch, 38% regularly work from bed and 20% often work outside, according to a study by the home improvement marketing firm CraftJack. Axios reports: People have spent an average of $268 trying to improve their remote work setups, but a whopping 50% still say the pain and discomfort of working from home is enough to send them back to the office. It's not enough for companies to provide stipends for teleworkers to buy ergonomic chairs or desks, Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva notes. Many people simply do not have the space allocated inside their homes for an office setup, and it can be too expensive to move to a bigger place.
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38% of Remote Workers Work From Bed More

38% of Remote Workers Work From Bed

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  • Correction (Score:5, Informative)

    by darkain ( 749283 ) on Friday July 30, 2021 @06:02PM (#61640005) Homepage

    38% of Remote Workers ADMIT they Work From Bed

    • I used to get a nice home office deduction and mileage when I went onsite. That was before a few years ago. *sigh*. Its jot just a shell game where other deductibles went up. Lowering $20k worth of work related expenses to a $5k max deduction on itemized returns is a real hit.

      • Re: Correction (Score:5, Insightful)

        by GrumpySteen ( 1250194 ) on Friday July 30, 2021 @06:37PM (#61640129)

        The $2 trillion in tax cuts that billionaires are enjoying aren't free and they sure as hell aren't going to be paid for by the 1%.

        Welcome to the wrong side of wealth inequality. You can't afford to buy legislators, so you might as well get used to paying more every year until you wind up in poverty. Then they'll call you lazy and blame you for your situation.

        • Is it wrong of me to hope for a complete collapse and anarchy? Lol. I feel its the only real shot at just living a normal, leave me be, sort of life.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by jjn1056 ( 85209 )

            I've lived in failed and failing countries and 'just let me be' isn't going to work out. You spend a lot of time coping with local thugs and trying to figure out how to keep what you already have.

            • I am a veteran of two wars. Im probably the meanest nastiest SOB around. I dont show it, as I am a leave and let be kind of guy, but that 'dont tread on me' flag (the gasden flag) fits me to a T. I have been using hurricane Andrew and Katrina as models of how to control the neighborhood against thugs. If push comes to shove I can be that scary thing that goes bump in the night.

        • If billionaires were paying more than $2 trillion dollars then I'd say they deserve a tax cut. That'd be at least a third of the current budget spending and more than two thirds of total federal tax revenue. Everybody else needs to up their game and start paying their fair share.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      As long as I'm not on zoom, I do most of my work from sitting on my toilet. It's just more convenient and saves a lot of time when you don't have to get up constantly for a bathroom break. Multitasking!

    • I know. Hurts your sleep and your work (Score:5, Insightful)

      by raymorris ( 2726007 ) on Friday July 30, 2021 @07:19PM (#61640253) Journal

      I've worked from home most of my life. Over the decades, Off read a few articles of "work from home tips", and worked with hundreds of other people who also worked from home.

      Every article says the same thing - have a designated work place that's just for work, even if it's just a particular chair in your kitchen table. Also, a designated work time.

      Do NOT mix up work sleep, working in bed at night. That messes up your sleep because your mind and body doesn't know that bed=sleep, and it messes up your work because half your brain is trying to go to sleep while you're working.

      I would bet there is a strong correlation between the 50% who don't like work from and the 38% who are working in their bed.

      Lots of people start their computer in a small closet, with a chair pulled up to the closet. Fine, that gives the separation between working and family time.

      Same with the time schedule. My wife and kid know that when I'm at work, I'm - at work. It just so happens that work is 12 feet from home, but nevertheless I'm at work. They don't interrupt me unnecessarily. Similarly, when I come home from work (come downstairs), I'm focused in my family. I'm not working at 7:00 PM when it's supposed to be family time.

      Wanna really mess up your sex life? Bring your boss's BS into your bed.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by rtb61 ( 674572 )

        The smartest move. Do not work alone. Set up a little business and partner with other work from home people. Work for more than one company. A little partnership, that might turn into something better but at least you are never reliant on one employer.

        Who hires the person who spent the last ten years on their couch, no one.

        The old shell game of companies helping workers set up their home office, eww, alarm bells ringing right there. Here, let me help you, out of the office, you are the greatest employee e

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Zarhan ( 415465 )

          Who hires the person who spent the last ten years on their couch, no one.

          Depends on what you have done on the couch. Get something to show for it. Patents (even if they go to the company, you are still listed as inventor). Standardization documents. Research papers. Publicly available documents that basically makes it certain that if you are "conveniently forgotten" then you can essentially just move to some other employer without too much of a hassle.

          This from working primarily as a remote worker for last

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Gabest ( 852807 )

      100% work from bed 38% of their time.

    • You're absolutely right about that. The actual numbers are closer to 81% working in their bed. The other 19% are working from the bathroom (13%), from Starbucks (5%) and from their campervan (1%).

      • The other 19% are working from the bathroom (13%), from Starbucks (5%) and from their campervan (1%).

        There are probably also a few forgotten percent who work from their above-ground pools.
        Literary done that.

        (Hint: splash-resistant phone and water-resistant wireless earphone and speakers are great accessories to follow webinars).

    • I've worked from home off and on for 27 years. I've never tried working from my bed. Unless I'm sick or recovering from surgery working from bed is dumb.

      With the trend in the past 5 years to "open office layout", almost any home office is better. Managers have been trying to cut costs by having everyone work in one big room right next to each other. Now they can cut costs more by letting everyone work from home.

      Right now I work from home in an unfinished storage room because it's the only place availabl

  • makes no sense (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cjonslashdot ( 904508 ) on Friday July 30, 2021 @06:09PM (#61640031)
    They must have surveyed a bunch of 20-somethings, or third world countries. Everyone I know has set up a home office. In the US, people in their 30s usually have homes and have enough room.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Xenx ( 2211586 )
      Everyone you know isn't necessarily indicative of the rest of the populace. ~2/3 of households own their home. That leaves a lot of renters. Further, there are a lot of homes that just won't have space for a family and an office. My father had a 4 bedroom house, and had to put his computer in a hall closet. There was enough room for the computer, some shelves, and a chair. Granted, this was a couple decades ago so it wasn't a work from home situation. But, the point still stands that he didn't really have r
      • Yes good point. In a single family home (which is not everyone) there is usually room for one office, but not two. Someone ends up in the bedroom! (or the closet!)

    • In the US, people in their 30s usually have homes and have enough room.

      It can depend on where you live, though. If you're out in the suburbs, you can probably set up something like that. In the city, not so much.

      • Yes, very true. That's probably a lot of the respondents. Their numbers seem to add up to close to 100% of people working from bed. That cannot be right, unless their survey was in some particular demographic - like a city.

      • See my post. I live in a very large, very expensive city, and have been working from home for years, including 14-15 years not working from home. Actually, 20 years including grad school.

        All it takes is 10 square feet to set up a home office. Literally 10 square feet. And even if one lives in a studio apartment that is 400 total square feet, they still end up with a better office than a mid level manager would get in a large company, plus room to move around, exercise, and a view out of a window.

    • News flash: you can have a full home office setup, and STILL work from bed / the couch / the back deck / the toilet.

    • In the US, people in their 30s usually have homes and have enough room.

      The USA is very much an odd ball around the world. Much of the world live in apartments or small town houses, not some McMansion with a dedicated office space. We're in the process of house shopping. I found one place where a 6 person family lived in a place which would suit 2 of us. The guy had his "office" set up in the Kitchen. Not 3rd world, but a first world well off and wealthy country in a large city and a house that costs $650k

      • I'm in the US, and my "office" is a desk in the kitchen/dining area. Most people who have a dedicated office space are using a living room, or bedroom, not an actual office.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Bert64 ( 520050 )

        That's why working from home a few days a week and office the rest doesn't work... People live in these small places because it's all they can afford within reach of their workplace. If you free them from that and let them work from home full time, they can move somewhere bigger and further away.

        There are plenty of small towns in the US where housing is much cheaper. A lot of these small towns are dying because a lack of local employment has caused people to move away, so by moving there and working remotel

        • That's why working from home a few days a week and office the rest doesn't work...

          You're making the exact same mistake the OP did, but to the opposite extreme. Rather than saying does / doesn't work. Or first and third world, maybe if we can all agree that different people have different living conditions and employers should consider this and create some flexibility in their working arrangements.

          I live in a small apartment. I have a dedicated office in this apartment. Today. This may change if I have kids tomorrow.

      • Yes. I think "city" is the problem. If one can work remotely, why live in the city, where housing is so expensive? It is very troubling to me that companies are making people go back to the office a couple of days each week because that prevents people from moving to more affordable to livable areas.

  • Most of my fellow employees tend to work at a desk, attempting to have some form of proper ergonomic support. Our employer "gave" us some funds for monitors, keyboard, chairs, desks, what have you...

  • I know a number of people who work best between 10:00PM and 3:00AM (often with a cat on their laps) so why not in bed?

    I just think they should be alone to avoid the minimal distraction of somebody moving and shifting everything around on them. When I say "minimal distraction", I mean that's the least another person can do to distract them.

    I know that there are a number of other things that somebody could do to distract them that are quite pleasurable, but none come to mind that are professional.

  • And 65% of people were too embarrassed to admit they worked from the toilet, usually the quietest room in the house.

  • Misleading title (Score:5, Informative)

    by countach74 ( 2484150 ) on Friday July 30, 2021 @06:13PM (#61640051)
    So this is a very short article with very little information, but the point of this is that people don't have space or equipment to adequately work from home--NOT that people work from their bed. I've worked remote for the last 9 years and I completely agree with the assertion that a small stipend isn't enough. I rent an office space because I have no space at home. And housing prices in my area have become too expensive to afford a home office. The ergonomic issues that you will develop if you regularly work from a couch are pretty horrible. Don't do it.

    • a small stipend isn't enough

      You want to work from home and be paid extra to do so? Get back to the office.

      • Re:Misleading title (Score:4, Interesting)

        by aergern ( 127031 ) on Friday July 30, 2021 @06:47PM (#61640173)

        Until the whacko anti-vaxxers pull their heads out of their ass and we reach 85% herd immunity ... GTFO with your holier-than-thou office talk.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Xenx ( 2211586 )
        Not all employers are letting employees work in the office. For example, my employer is only allowing those that have to be at the office to work from the office. I'm not saying employers should definitely be supplying a stipend for remote work. However, it's not unreasonable for an employee to request compensation if they're required to do so.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by taustin ( 171655 )

        Employers should provide all the resources needed to do the job, wherever the employee is working. That includes a work space that doesn't cause medical problems.

        It's only a matter of time before we see OSHA getting involved because of workers' comp claims from people who have no choice but to work from home, and aren't paid enough to afford more than a studio apartment barely big enough for a bed and a hot plate.

      • That's cheaper for the company? To rent an office instead of handing your worker a couple bucks to establish one in his home, where he provides his heating, his electricity, his air conditioning, his water supply and his toilet?

        Spill it, what's the actual motivation, I don't buy that.

        • A mass working from home turnout would destroy the value of the companies real estate and devaluing the building the company owns is not cheaper than making people come into the office.

          • Ah, we finally get to the core of the problem. I should be subjected to commuting traffic because companies prefer to be real estate sharks to being productive.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Bert64 ( 520050 )

      If you work remote full time, why are you remaining in the area you're in and not moving somewhere cheaper?

      Also, why would companies pay your work from home costs unless they were previously paying your work from office costs? For most people the costs of office work (commuting, restrictions on living location etc) are considerably higher than the costs of home working.

      • Hard to move away from family. Yeah you're right, commute is expensive. So I didn't really mean to communicate that companies should pay remote workers more. The ergonomic concerns are what's most important to me. Financially, it's not so cut and dry. But clearly there are cost savings for companies if they no longer have to rent or own and maintain large office spaces. But again, whether or not there's a financial benefit to either party, it's a real pain in the ass (sometimes literally) to work remote. A

  • Hookers!? (Score:3)

    by CaptainDork ( 3678879 ) on Friday July 30, 2021 @06:16PM (#61640063)

    Sorry, had to.

  • I have to admit I like comfort in working, but I've not worked from bed before...

    I'm not sure how physically that would work, I guess you just sit up and have your laptop on your legs? It seems way less comfortable long term than a couch.

    Maybe some people meant they've responded to work messages from bed? I have done that.

    • I cannot imagine anything less comfortable than working from bed. I have a workable office, with an adjustable desk, a monitor better than many at the office, chair better than any at the office, all for $400, which was worth it for me.

      Bed? I'm surprised that many could manage it.

    • The people who spend all day over a laptop in bed must hate their spines and are not thinking long-term.
      I've been working from home for a very long time before the pandemic popped up. Having an ergonomic office setup is key to long-term physical health. A large monitor hooked up to the laptop is a nice bonus. Stand-up desk is even better.
      That is, of course, if you're really working, not just monitoring Teams/Slack/whatever for mentions, so you can look responsive and like you're at work.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Xenx ( 2211586 )
      I have worked from my bed at home, and yes basically I just sit up with my laptop on my legs. It's happened 2-3 times over the last 5 years. I don't work from home usually. My roommate works exclusively from home, so my bedroom is the only quiet place when it does happen.
    • Agree, I couldn't imagine creating any kind of content while lying in bed. I will fully admit to having attended several pointless all-team conference calls while under the covers.

      • And I guess this is what this survey refers to.

        If anything, it is a testimony to how much time is being wasted with pointless meetings.

    • You need a better imagination. Get yourself a nice 43" 4k Samsung TV (better than many "monitors" out there), and mount it over your bed with one of these options:

      https://www.hvtvmounts.com/c/e... [hvtvmounts.com]

      or get a smaller monitor to attach to an arm like you would find in a dentist's office:

      https://www.amazon.com/Tyke-Su... [amazon.com]

  • The posture would give me headaches and all kids of aches elsewhere. Plus, how do they maintain proper keyboard and mouse posture to minimize the risks of carpal tunnel? I'd have to at least sit at the kitchen table or something. I couldn't do 8-9 hours a day sitting in bed for work.

    • You attach the screen overhead and you can actually work lying down. At least as long as you don't have to type too much.

      I actually had to live like that for a while. It's not as bad as one may think.

  • . . . if they counted those working through OnlyFans.

  • Now, what percentage works from the toilet, now that would be fascinating data to know.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by ebvwfbw ( 864834 )

      Now, what percentage works from the toilet, now that would be fascinating data to know.

      I hope none. For your health, you want to get on, do your business and get off. Don't be hanging around on the toilet. That creates a lot of pressure on the sphincter and they'll develop hemorrhoids. Take care of your body. You only get one. When it's broken it's a pain.

      This would explain more shitty code, however.
      LOL... I know..I'm here all week.

  • Doesn't seem right to me (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jjn1056 ( 85209 ) <jjn1056&yahoo,com> on Friday July 30, 2021 @07:12PM (#61640247) Homepage Journal

    I don't see how the home setups are worse than the crappy, cramped setups I had at every programming job in NYC. This seem suspicious to me. There's a total push to get people back to the office, even against their will and self interest.

    • I don't see how the home setups are worse than the crappy, cramped setups I had at every programming job in NYC. This seem suspicious to me.

      You're judging based on what you know. At my office the desks are spacious, motorised standup/sit down adjustable, all of our chairs meet high ergonomic standards, and by comparison my home was absolute trash. Now good work provided us with a fairly generous sum but after rolling the "gaming chair" into the bin and spending $500 on an office chair, $75 on a decent monitor stand, I didn't have anything left for the standup convertible desk I miss dearly.

      There's a total push to get people back to the office, even against their will and self interest.

      Of course there is. Especially for teams which work bet

  • Almost no one is working from bed, not among my coworkers nor the many companies we meet. What kind of low wage slobs did they survey? And as far as slashdotters go, what kind of geek doesn't have nice comfy workstation or gaming chair? No one, that's who.

    • I sleep in this chair, you insensitive clod!

      • yes that's the point, sometimes I do sleep in this chair, and it's heavy and robust enough to recline at steep angle. $450 on half off sale, money well spent. The chair before that lasted over 20 years, that one was mere $120, less than quarter of normal price, from office furniture business in Chicago Loop closing out that was taking cash and I happened to walk by. I rolled that thing a few blocks back to my apartment to replace similarly ancient chair.

    • What kind of low wage slobs did they survey?

      What makes someone who lives in a small house low wage? Do you think USA style McMansions are normal? There are people who live in apartments. People with families and without the space to dedicate a room to an office.

      what kind of geek doesn't have nice comfy workstation or gaming chair?

      You're joking right? Gaming chairs and the single biggest crock of shit on the planet. No self respecting person would sit in one for an entire workday. Get an office chair which is not only far more comfortable but won't leave you disabled in 10 years.

      • I have office chair, but relative has gaming chair that cost more and is more comfortable. Just because you have experienced some low quality junk don't generalize.

        I lived in apartments for over a decade, always had my workstation even in studio apartment as did my neighbors. Again what kind of slob didn't do that?

  • These are the unprofessional clowns which are making working from home jobs more scrutinised, harder to find and confirming that management should in fact pull staff back to the office.

    Fuck these people.

    • Technically, I could actually do most of my work from bed. The place you work in matters less than you think.

      • the place matters and bed is not a desk with multiple monitors, space to read or write papers when needed, scanner, landline phone for conferencing when needed (when the zoom/webex/goto/slack/teams audio sucks), to say nothing of proper lighting appropriate for activity

  • 38 + 45 + 20 = bullshit (Score:3)

    by YrWrstNtmr ( 564987 ) on Friday July 30, 2021 @07:50PM (#61640343)
    103%

    I think they interviewed the same guy, moving around in his house.

  • They're in bed but not working?

  • Apple IIe Ad from 1982
    https://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/156/retro-scan-of-the-week-the-apple-iie-part-of-this-complete-breakfast

  • $268 is funny. $2'680 is no less funny.

    I've been working from a home office for 25 years. The chair, the desk, the machines, that already tops $10'000.

    And none of that even makes the priority list.

    The walls, the smells, the outside smells, the light, the storage, the air-flow. Not down wind from the laundry soap and the frying bacon. Not in the direct sun, and not out of the indirect sun. Plenty of storage, but no hidden storage. Walls but not attractive walls but not boring walls but not distracting

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Bert64 ( 520050 )

      Yes, that's all very true... Most employers i've had provided absolutely awful offices, so setting up a home office was a HUGE improvement.

    • Can you tell the make/model of your work chair?

      • Global, Concorde
        Ha, you made me turn my chair upside down!
        https://www.globalfurnituregro... [globalfurnituregroup.com]

        Was described, at the time (I actually have the original brochure around here somewhere) as a 24/365 security camera monitor chair for 350lbs.

        Looks like it's still buildable today: Mine is a dark grey, grade 2 hatch-weave fabric (leather doesn't suit my legs).
        Global Total Office
        Series Name: Concorde®
        Model Name: High Back 24HR Executive Synchro-Tilter (2424)
        Model Code: 2424,792,C10R,BK,BLA
        https://www.globalfurnit [globalfurnituregroup.com]

  • Working from bed what a slovenly habit. You should work from the boat like me.

  • I have been working remotely for years now and my home office space is a desk and chair that is 30 inches wide and has room for a 28 inch deep table and my ergo chair. It is in a room of my home that is not a dedicated office space, but It is dedicated to my work during work hours. Therefore, i have created an actual work space in about 10 square feet, within a dual use room about 12 feet by 12 feet.

    This gives me something that is equivalent to the desk space of a crappy office cubicle, but with the dignity

  • We can hear your kids. Your wife complaining. Your neighbors dogs. The traffic outside. Etc etc etc All day long. At the office we hear. Other employees complaining. Your too hot or too cold. And you have to go into the traffic outside. I think it is just work that sucks.
  • I would imagine folks on here already have existing multi-monitor desktop setups / millennial "battlestations" at home. Why not just work from that? I certainly do, albeit with the work laptop/dock connected.

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